French officials to visit India to rescue stalled Rafale jet deal

A French delegation will visit New Delhi this month to try to salvage an agreement to supply 126 Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, in one of the world's biggest defence deals, which has hit a snag over the local assembly of the planes.

India is insisting that France's Dassault Aviation take full responsibility for the production of the aircraft at a state-ran facility in Bangalore under the 2012 bid offer, Indian defence ministry officials said.

France has said it will help Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd stick to delivery schedules, but that it cannot give guarantees for production of the aircraft made at a facility over which it has no administrative or expert control.

Read more