France asks India to finalise missile project soon

France has asked India for early finalisation of the long-pending Rs 30,000-crore project for joint production of short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) systems. In a letter, the French Defence Ministry has told India that ‘it will carry out substantial transfer of technology and know-how, especially in the field of missile guidance’. The French side has proposed that the project ‘would enable India to get in a few years in areas of strategic missile, the maximum autonomy you have called for’.