In a major jolt to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the French government on Friday debunked his claims in Parliament that he was told by French president Emanuel Macron that there was no secrecy pact between the two countries on the procurement of the Rafale combat aircraft.

"We have noted the statement of Mr Rahul Gandhi before the Indian Parliament. France and India concluded in 2008 a security agreement, which legally binds the two States to protect the classified information provided by the partner that could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment of India or France. These provisions naturally apply to the Inter-Governmental Agreement concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircrafts and their weapons," the French government said in a statement issued on Friday evening.

A serious charge was made by the Congress president during the ongoing no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman claiming that Macron had told him that there was no secrecy pact between the two governments and the facts of the deal could be made public.

"As the president of the French Republic indicated publicly in an interview given to India Today on 9 March 2018, 'In India and in France, when a deal is very sensitive, we can’t reveal all details'," the French statement said.

BJP MP Prahlad Joshi has already moved a breach of privilege motion on the issue in the Lok Sabha.