India and France on Friday concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets to cost the nation Rs. 58,000 crore. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves LeDrian signed the contract in Delhi on Friday after years of tortuous negotiations between the two countries. The Rafale aircraft will allow the airforce to strike targets in Pakistani soil even while flying within the Indian airspace.

The Narendra Modi government had cleared the deal amid indications that the French government waived off the advance guarantee, allowing India to save 134 million euros. These combat aircraft, delivery of which will start in 36 months and will be completed in 66 months from the date the contract is inked, comes equipped with state-of-the-art missiles like 'Meteor' and 'Scalp' that will give IAF a capability that had been sorely missing in its arsenal.

The features that make the Rafale a strategic weapon in the hands of IAF include its Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 km. India needs at least 42 squadrons of fighters and has an existing strength of 32. The fighter fleet will go down further by about 10 squadrons as the MiG-21 fighters - dubbed flying coffins because of their poor safety record - will have to be grounded.