NEWDELHI: A ‘pleased’ French President Nicholas Sarkozy welcomed India’s decision to select Dassault for supplying 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) under a multi-billion dollar deal.
The deal is important both for Sarkozy, who is set to face elections with his popularity graph declining. “France is pleased with the Indian Government’s decision to select the French aircraft to enter into exclusive negotiations with Dassault.” He said the realisation of the Rafale project would ‘illustrate the depth and scale of the strategic partnership.