India wants closure on the MMRCA deal to buy 126 Dassault Rafale fighters before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits France and Germany in April.
The deal is struck over price and performance guarantee issues which the Indian MOD claims is not in compliance with the original Request for Proposals (RFP) based on which the French company was selected as the lowest bidder.
The Times of India reported today that India defence minister Manohar Parrikar has written to his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian that India was still awaiting the "empowered" delegation he had promised to send to resolve the imbroglio. The two ministers had decided to "fast-track" the negotiations during talks in New Delhi on December 1.