The Russian arms industry is ready to offer India, according to media reports, not only the Su-30MKI, but also the MiG-35, if the country refuses to purchase the French jet Rafale.

RIA Novosti learned this on Wednesday at the Aero India-2015 Exhibition from the head of RSK MiG, Sergey Korotkov, who was expressing his company’s desire to participate in new tenders and competitions in India.

“We have everything that is needed to compete. We have not lost hope that a new tender or competition will be announced,” said Mr. Korotkov, adding that RSK is ready to offer India the more advanced version of jet fighters – the MiG-35.

Earlier, Indian media reported that the Indian Ministry of Defense might refuse to purchase 126 fighter jets for its Air Force from Rafale, which won the tender in 2012, and instead buy the Russian Su-30MKI.

Shortly after that, the Business Standard, citing sources in the Indian Ministry of Defense, reported that New Delhi would not be buying the Rafale jets, because of the high prices. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India, they said that, in terms of price attractiveness and reliability, the Russian multi-role Su-30 fighters are comparable to the Rafale.

Russia and India have been close partners in military and technical cooperation. In 2014, the total cost of weapons and military hardware delivered by Russia to India reached $4.7 billion, the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation estimated.

Source:http://www.defencenews.in/