India Inches Closer to Fighter Jet Deal as Hollande Visits Modi
- 8 years ago
Nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi drastically scaled down the world’s biggest fighter jet deal in a bid to quickly replenish India’s aging air force with French warplanes, the two sides still haven’t agreed on a price or delivery date.
In a joint briefing in New Delhi on Monday, Modi and French President Francois Hollande hailed the signing of a government-to-government deal for 36 Dassault Aviation SA Rafale warplanes.
Hollande said the financial terms would be worked out in the “coming days," while a joint statement said talks on price would be resolved “as soon as possible."
“The key step has been made," Hollande said.
“In April it was a declaration.
Today it’s an agreement between two countries.”
For India, it’s another step in a quest to modernize its air force that first began in 2007.
About one third of the country’s air fleet is more than 40 years old and set to retire in the next decade, putting pressure on Modi to quickly acquire new warplanes to keep pace with neighbors China and Pakistan.
In a joint briefing in New Delhi on Monday, Modi and French President Francois Hollande hailed the signing of a government-to-government deal for 36 Dassault Aviation SA Rafale warplanes.
Hollande said the financial terms would be worked out in the “coming days," while a joint statement said talks on price would be resolved “as soon as possible."
“The key step has been made," Hollande said.
“In April it was a declaration.
Today it’s an agreement between two countries.”
For India, it’s another step in a quest to modernize its air force that first began in 2007.
About one third of the country’s air fleet is more than 40 years old and set to retire in the next decade, putting pressure on Modi to quickly acquire new warplanes to keep pace with neighbors China and Pakistan.