The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive a $500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel's state-owned defence contractor Rafael, military chief Bipin Rawat said yesterday.
India recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the country this week.
Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with premier Narendra Modi's pet 'Make in India' initiative.
"They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results," Rawat said.
