Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
India

India To Buy 36 Rafale Jets In Fly-away Condition: Modi

Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Apr, 2015 11:56 AM
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India will buy 36 Rafale jets from France in fly-away condition soon.
     
    The decision is among the several agreements reached between the two countries after his meeting with French President Francois Hollande here. 
     
    "I have spoken to President Hollande about buying 36 Rafale jets in fly-away condition," the prime minister said while addressing the media jointly with the French president. 
     
    Modi also said defence cooperation with France has been enhanced and the two countries would work together in manufacturing defence equipment and developing technology.
     
    "President Hollande has extended full cooperation for our 'Make In India' campaign in the defence sector which is not just a programme but an ambition we have. India and France will together make defence equipment and also develop technology," Modi said. 
     
    The Indian prime minister added that he had a detailed talk with French defence companies. 
     
    "Today we have taken strategic cooperation with France to a new level," Modi said in an address in Hindi. 
     
    The Indian Air Force (IAF) had shortlisted Rafale for induction into its frontline combat fleet, replacing the ageing Soviet-era MiG-21 squadron but the deal did not materialise for long.
     
    The original deal, with an estimated cost of $20 billion, was for delivery of 126 fighters, including 18 off-the-shelf by Dassault, and 108 to be manufactured in India under licensed production by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) over time, with 50 percent offset obligations to benefit the domestic aerospace industry.
     
    The IAF opted for the twin-engined Rafale in January 2012 over Eurofighter Typhoon of the European consortium EADS Cassidian after outsmarting F-16 of American Lockheed Martin, F/A-18 of Boeing, MiG-35 of Russian United Aircraft Corp and Swedish SAAB's Gripen in a global competitive bid floated in August 2007.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Pakistan concerned over Indian dam

    Pakistan concerned over Indian dam
    Pakistan has expressed concern over construction of a dam in Jammu and Kashmir and termed it a violation of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), media reported Monday....

    Pakistan concerned over Indian dam

    India strongly responding to firing from Pakistan: BSF

    India strongly responding to firing from Pakistan: BSF
    India is strongly responding to the firing from Pakistan, Border Security Force (BSF) Director General D.K. Pathak said here Sunday....

    India strongly responding to firing from Pakistan: BSF

    Two killed in Pakistan firing in Jammu, India vows to respond

    Two killed in Pakistan firing in Jammu, India vows to respond
    Two people were killed and seven others injured early Saturday in heavy firing by Pakistan forces on BSF posts on the international border in Jammu...

    Two killed in Pakistan firing in Jammu, India vows to respond

    Politics of jeering: Is it countdown to assembly elections?

    Politics of jeering: Is it countdown to assembly elections?
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces the first big political challenge of his three month-old government over heckling of opposition chief ministers of poll-bound...

    Politics of jeering: Is it countdown to assembly elections?

    To each his own: Modus vivendi between Modi and RSS?

    To each his own: Modus vivendi between Modi and RSS?
    Although the assertions of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat about India being a Hindu nation and that all its citizens are Hindus in a cultural...

    To each his own: Modus vivendi between Modi and RSS?

    Indian Army finds tunnel near Pakistan border

    Indian Army finds tunnel near Pakistan border
    Indian troops have discovered an incomplete underground tunnel leading from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir, the defence ministry said Saturday...

    Indian Army finds tunnel near Pakistan border