MMRCA deal still some way off as irritants remain

Though India and France failed to ink the much-awaited $10.4-billion 126 MMRCA deal during the French defence minister's visit on Friday, the two sides discussed military cooperation, including high-technology areas involving joint research and development, and transfer of technology as well as the security situation in the Af-Pak region.

During the 90-minute talks, defence minister AK Antony and his counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, highlighted the ongoing military hardware cooperation, including the Dassault's Rafale combat aircraft deal.

Besides the $6-billion Maitri surface-to-air missile defence system, delays in several deals, involving French interests such as the Rs 15,000-crore 197 light utility helicopters (LUH), Rs 7,500-crore six midair refuelers and Rs 13,000-crore six Scorpene conventional submarines, came up during the talks.

Read more