Dassault Pushes India To Up Rafale Order, India Says 'Good Wine Takes Time'

PHOTO / Wg Cdr RS Chauhan
Wire agency reports today suggest Dassault Aviation and the French government are looking to persuade the Indian government to immediately exercise options for 63 additional Rafale fighters over and above the 126 it looks to contract as part of the MMRCA acquisition.

A proposal of sorts was raised by the French when India's foreign minister Salman Khurshid visited Paris last week.

"Presently the contract under negotiation is for 126 aircraft but we are talking about the follow-up," AFP quoted a source as saying. It also quoted the Indian foreign minister as saying, when asked about when a contract would be signed, "We know good French wine takes time to mature and so do good contracts. The contract details are being worked out. A decision has already been taken, just wait a little for the cork to pop and you'll have some good wine to taste."

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