NEW DELHI, May 2: India will soon begin selling missiles to “friendly countries”, media reports quoting defence sources said Friday.

The systems earmarked for export include cruise and anti-tank guided missiles, which will not violate international laws governing the sale of missiles — such as the Missile Technology Control Regime, the reports said.

In January, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said several countries had shown interest in buying the BrahMos missile which India is developing jointly with Russia.

The BrahMos is a 280-kilometre range cruise missile meant to arm Indian warships and submarines. It has been test-flown three times since 2001 and is likely to enter production by the end of the year.

The Asian Age newspaper said the state-run Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) was exploring the option of exporting subsystems of the home-grown surface to surface Prithvi (Earth) missile.

Exporting the entire missile could have security implications for India, which was why the sale of subsystems was being considered, the report said.

“The missile will go to Singapore but from there we do not know what its final destination is,” the paper quoted an unidentified BDL official as saying.

“This is a big problem owing to which we can only export subsystems.”

BDL has already bagged orders from Malaysia and a number of countries had shown interest in buying missiles from India, the report added.

The prices for some types of missiles — around 420,000 rupees (8,750 dollars) — are far less than those quoted in the international market, the report added.

In February, BDL and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company unveiled plans to jointly manufacture missiles for export.—AFP