NEW DELHI, Feb 15 – India and France on Thursday concluded negotiations on Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SR-SAM), worth nearly US$6 billion (RM18.54 billion), during talks between French President Francois
Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
Manmohan also noted that talks on the Rafale fighter aircraft pact, worth US$10 billion (RM30.9 billion) are “progressing well”.
Expressing satisfaction with the progress in defence cooperation, Manmohan said, “Discussions on the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract are progressing well. We have also concluded negotiations on the Short Range Surface to Air Missile, which, once approved by the government, will be co-developed and co-produced in India,” noting that the defence ties were poised to reach a qualitatively new level.
The SR-SAM project is a co-development joint venture between India and France and would be developed by MBDA of France, a missile developer and manufacturer, and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The surface to air missile defence system would be deployed by Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy.
Hollande on his part said he has come to take the Indo-French strategic partnership to “yet another level”, noting that the defence cooperation reflects India’s trust for French technology vice-versa.
“India is a country of peace”, the French President added.
Hollande was accompanied by a large delegation of French business leaders, including Dassault Chief Executive Eric Trappier, whose company is hoping to seal the agreement to sell 126 Rafale warplanes to India in the world’s biggest defence contract currently under negotiation.
BERNAMA
