NEW DELHI: Israel’s prime minister said that a $500 million Spike anti-tank missile deal that India shelved with Israel is back on the table.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted late on Wednesday that following his talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government informed the Israeli side that it’s putting the deal with Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd. back on the track.
“This is very important for us and there will be many more deals,” he said, without giving details.
The Indian Express newspaper said the deal had been called off in favour of indigenous development by state-run Defence Research & Development Organisation. Indian official did not comment immediately on Thursday.
Netanyahu, who is on a six-day visit to India, held talks with Modi in New Delhi on Monday and the two visited Modi’s home state of Gujarat on Wednesday. Netanyahu’s visit ends on Friday.
Israel is India’s third-largest supplier of weapons after the United States and Russia. Last year, Israel’s state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries announced over $2 billion in air and missile-defence contracts with India.
Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018
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