New Delhi: Discussions around cost and techno-commercial details of India’s purchase of 26 Rafale-M fighter jets and three Scorpene submarines from France are still reportedly underway.Sources told Economic Times that India’s state-run ship-builder Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and French defence major Naval Group finalised a framework agreement on July 6 for the Scorpene submarine project, but conversations on price and other technical details have not yet concluded. On the Rafale-M procurement too, techno-commercial details are yet to be finalised.On July 13, the defence acquisition council (DAC) cleared the Indian Navy’s proposals to acquire 26 Rafale M jets and three submarines. This was the same day Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his two-day visit to France – and it was expected that the two purchases would be announced at the end of the trip.Sources told Hindustan Times that the fact that these two deals did not figure in the 25-year roadmap chalked out during Modi’s visit does not mean that the purchases won’t happen. India is “very clear” about acquiring the Rafale M jets and Scorpene submarines, they said.The issues still up for negotiation are reportedly pricing, date of delivery and the “Make in India” component. Though the final price is yet to be decided, it is expected that the deal will cost between nine and 10 billion euros, Hindustan Times reported.According to The Indian Express, negotiators tried to finish talks on these two big purchases while Modi was in France, but could not come to a conclusion. “The negotiators tried to close the two deals in time, so that they could include the lines in the document. But that could not be wrapped up by the summit meeting… It went down to the wire, till the Prime Minister and the French President met and discussed the matter… but could not be closed,” a source told the newspaper.A draft version of the final joint statement had reportedly been uploaded “by mistake” on the Ministry of External Affairs’ website, which included a line on the Scorpene submarines. This line was not in the final joint statement. As The Indian Express reported:“The document titled ‘Horizon 2047: 25th Anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, Towards A Century of India-France Relations’ now states “India and France hail the success of the first Scorpene submarine construction programme (P75 – Kalvari), a model of Make in India and the sharing of naval expertise between companies in the two countries. India and France are ready to explore more ambitious projects to develop the Indian submarine fleet and its performance.”In the draft statement uploaded by “mistake”, there was also a sentence that read, “They welcome the MoU between Mazagon Dockyard Ltd and Naval Group for the construction of three additional submarines under the P75 programme.” This line is not there in the final statement.”
