India to buy 36 ‘ready-fly’ fighter jets from France

The Dollar Business Bureau The Governments of India and France, on Saturday, agreed and signed various deals which include a long-pending defence deal, among others. According to the defence reports, the Prime Minister has asked the Government of France to supply 36 ‘ready-fly’ Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, reviving the deal that has been pending over years. Besides defence deal worth around $4 billion, the deals for cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy, tourism, building smart cities, were also agreed between the two sides. Both sides agreed upon a ‘Jaitapur Nuclear Plant’ deal, as a part of cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy too. Francois Hollande, President of France, has announced that his government plans to invest 2 billion Euros in India and also to develop three smart cities. The French government also extended its support towards proposing India as a permanent member of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and also expressed its cooperation to India in the ‘Make in India’ policy. The Prime Minister also stated that India would be extending virtual electronic travel facility to the French citizens. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement over purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, the Indian Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, said that the aircrafts would be inducted in to the IAF within a span of two years. India has finally broken ice over the defence deal that has been pending for the last 17 years and in fact, India has not purchased any major new generation aircraft in last 17 years, said Parrikar, according to the reports. Both sides agreed upon an Inter-Governmental Agreement over the supply of aircrafts, under the conclusion that would be better than the one conveyed by France’s ‘Dassault Aviation’ to India for the supply of 126 Rafale jets at $12 billion deal, the reports added. According to the reports, as a part of the defence deal, both sides agreed to conclude an Inter-Governmental Agreement over the supply of aircrafts. Indian government has been in negotiations since 2012 to buy 126 Rafale jets from France's ‘Dassault Aviation' and the process is still underway.    

This article was published on April 11, 2015.