PARIS- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday he had ordered 36 "ready-to-fly" French-made Rafale fighter jets to modernize his country's ageing warplane fleet as neighboring states upgraded their military hardware. Indian military officials have warned that their air force risks a major capability gap opening up with China and Pakistan without new western warplanes or if local defence contractors cannot produce what the military needs in a timely manner.
"I have asked President (Francois Hollande) to supply 36 ready-to-fly Rafale jets to India," Modi said at a news conference on the first day of a state visit to France.
"Our civil servants will discuss (terms and conditions) in more detail and continue the negotiations," he said, speaking in Hindi through an interpreter.
The deal, another boost for French manufacturer Dassault Aviation after it sealed its long-awaited first export deal to Egypt in February, could be worth about 4 billion euros.
President Hollande said Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian would travel to India soon to finalise the deal.
India and France have already been in exclusive negotiations for three years. The value of a larger 126-plane deal being negotiated is estimated to have grown to about $20 billion from an initial $12 billion, primarily because of an Indian requirement that 108 of the jets be built in the country.