France has affirmed its commitment to ensuring timely delivery of Rafale fighter jets to India despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday after a telephonic conversation with his French counterpart Florence Parly.
“We discussed matters of mutual concern, including COVID-19 situation, regional security and agreed to strengthen the Bilateral Defence Cooperation between India and France,” Mr. Singh said on Twitter. “We also appreciated the efforts made by the armed forces of India and France in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic”, he stated.
As reported by The Hindu, the first batch of four Rafale jets, which were originally scheduled to arrive in India in May, will now arrive by July end due to the lockdown and restrictions.
Mr. Singh welcomed French chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) from 2020 to 2022, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. “The two Ministers agreed to work together to fulfil the India-France joint strategic vision on the Indian Ocean Region of 2018,” it stated.
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Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bharaudia in a recent interview to The Hindu said the delay would be covered up in subsequent deliveries of the Rafale jets.
There is still about 8-9 weeks of training left for the IAF team currently in France and also some logistic support and test equipment that has to be flown to the Ambala air base before the jets can come in.