Indian Air Force pilots will be trained for the next few months in france before the Rafale aircraft are sent to India, it is learnt.france is keen to sell 36 more Rafale fighter aircraft to India among a series of other defence equipment, including helicopters for the Navy and the Coast Guard and submarines, it is learnt. This will be one of the key points on the agenda when France's President Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne meets National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval in New Delhi on Thursday.
Sources said that the meeting at the level of NSA will be the first high-level contact a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Macron held bilateral talks in Paris, and then again met in Biarritz during the G-7 summit.
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Sources said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to visit France in the latter half of September for the handing over of the first of 36 Rafale fighter jets — the first aircraft is likely to be delivered in the third week of September.
Indian Air Force pilots will be trained for the next few months in France before the Rafale aircraft are sent to India, it is learnt.
More defence deals likely
With elections over and the ghost of Rafale allegations now seemingly history, New Delhi and Paris will engage in consultations on more defence equipment from France. France has expressed eagerness to give more Rafale aircraft, and India…
