Dassault Confident Of Indian Rafale Contract In Four Weeks

However, the much expected nine billion dollars deal on buying Rafale fighters jets may have to wait as French President said yesterday that an inter-governmental agreement has to be in place to enable a commercial contract between the two countries.

The two countries are in negotiation for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly away condition since the deal was announced by Modi in April during his visit to France.

“We are very happy that we have formed an agreement for purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts with France”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. They also asked Pakistan to ensure such attacks do not recur in the future, a joint statement issued after the talks said. While India has used French facilities at the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou in French Guiana for launch of its satellites, the European nation’s light satellites were launched by it. France has appreciated India’s capabilities of sending light satellites into the orbit.

Later, responding to a query on ISIS, Hollande affirmed that France will not be “deterred” by any kind of threat of terrorism and that it will always protect the “values” for which it stands.

“When the financial parts are settled, then the IGA in its entirety will be concluded”, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) gives a hug to French President Francois Hollande at the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, northern India, Jan. 24, 2016. France will never forget Indian support. While a great deal of it focused on cooperative measures on security and terrorism, there were also two paragraphs on the ISA. Hollande also pledged 300 million Euros to develop solar energy in next five years.

In the statement, the two countries “strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attacks that have struck many parts of the world recently”. Ministers and executives travelling with Hollande signed a series of accords in Chandigarh with their Indian counterparts on e-commerce, renewable energy and the development of “smart cities”, one of Modi’s pet projects. “They are provoking us in the worst possible manner, but this can only make us more determined, including myself”, he said.

Apart from the pricing issue for supplying the Rafale fighter jets, their delivery timelines also haven’t been mentioned.

Hollande is now in India for a three-day visit, which includes the occasion of India’s Republic Day on Tuesday. “This complementarity can also been seen in the context of other programmes of the Indian government”, Sapin said.

 French companies have committed to investing $10 billion in India’s industrial sectors over the next five years, finance minister Michel Sapin said.