New Delhi: India is still negotiating a long-delayed purchase of fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation.
India initially agreed to the purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault in 2012 but the purchase has been stuck in negotiations which still continue, Defense Minister Arun Jaitley said in a response to a question in the upper house of Parliament Tuesday.
"The process of negotiation with the vendor, Dassault Aviation, for procurement of medium, multi-role combat aircraft is on," he said without giving any date by which the negotiations might end.
India in recent years has become the world's largest importer of weapons as it tries to modernize its military.
The South Asian nation depends on imports from countries like Russia, the U.S., France and Israel for most of its arms requirements, but placing orders can sometimes take years.
22/07/14 Santanu Choudhury/Wall Street Journal
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India initially agreed to the purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault in 2012 but the purchase has been stuck in negotiations which still continue, Defense Minister Arun Jaitley said in a response to a question in the upper house of Parliament Tuesday.
"The process of negotiation with the vendor, Dassault Aviation, for procurement of medium, multi-role combat aircraft is on," he said without giving any date by which the negotiations might end.
India in recent years has become the world's largest importer of weapons as it tries to modernize its military.
The South Asian nation depends on imports from countries like Russia, the U.S., France and Israel for most of its arms requirements, but placing orders can sometimes take years.
22/07/14 Santanu Choudhury/Wall Street Journal
