India Attempts to Iron Out Differences with France in MMRCA Deal

An Indian delegation is currently in Paris to iron out differences between Indian and French positions concerning the potential sale of 126 Dassault Rafale fighters to the Indian Air Force.

The Indian Secretary of Defense Radha Krishna Mathur and a senior from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) reached France on Monday for two days meeting to meet with their French counterparts.

The key differences concern the price of the fighter plane and the work to be performed at HAL, India where 108 aircraft are to be assembled. "We cannot accept responsibility in the delivery schedule of a public company controlled by the client state, except that a number of conditions are met”, a French website,"Echoes" said quoting an unnamed source.

Both the countries have been holding contract negotiations since 2012 after the fighter aircraft was selected from among five contenders.

The negotiations have lately run into rough weather over a guarantee clause and a steep rise in price. 

India is insisting that Dassault Aviation, which manufactures Rafale, will have to stick the conditions of the Request for Proposal (RFP), which it had initially agreed to. 

France is sending an ‘empowered’ delegation to New Delhi later this month to “solve the remaining problems”.