• India to purchase 114 French Rafale: ministry source.
• Aviation could manufacture 90 jets in country: Indian media.
• Procurement to enhance “deterrence capabilities”, says ministry.
  

NEW DELHI: Indian officials have cleared the proposed purchase of $39 billion worth of defence equipment, including more Rafale jets, the defence ministry said on Thursday, days ahead of a visit by France’s President Emmanuel Macron.

A defence ministry source told AFP that the decision covers the purchase of 114 French Rafale fighter jets, adding to a few dozen already ordered for the Indian Air Force.

New Delhi has sought over the past decade to reduce its dependence on Russia, its traditional main supplier of military equipment, turning to other countries while pushing to boost domestic production.

A defence ministry statement that did not specify the number of jets under the proposed deal said that “the majority” of them would be manufactured in India.

Media reports in India, citing unnamed government sources, suggested Dassault Aviation could manufacture at least 90 jets in the country under the deal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has considered such a major order of multi-role fighter aircraft for years, pushing all potential suppliers to transfer technology and manufacturing to India.

The defence ministry statement said the procurement would enhance the air force’s “dominance” and “deterrence capabilities… with long range offensive strikes”.

The purchase was approved by the defence acquisition council, which comprises top military officers and the defence minister, and can now move to commercial negotiations.

These would be followed by a final approval by the powerful cabinet committee on security, which is chaired by the prime minister.

Macron is set to visit India on Tuesday.

Ageing fleet

The Indian air force has retired some of its ageing aircraft, and now has a fleet of 29 jets — well below the officially approved 42.

Bureaucratic hurdles and insufficient domestic production have been blamed for the shortage.

In September, New Delhi announced a $7-billion deal to acquire 97 domestically designed and built Tejas jets.

The announcement came a day before the air force retired its Soviet-era MiG-21s.

Russian MiG-29s and French Mirage 2000 are expected to retire over the next few years.

Gradually turning away from Russian military gear, India has increased imports from the United States, France and Israel.

Since 2015, India has bought 36 Rafale jets worth around $8.7 billion and in April announced a fresh multi-billion dollar deal to buy 26 more.

Modi’s government has also liberalised laws to ease private investments in domestic defence manufacturing.

A four-day conflict with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan last year highlighted the need for Delhi to upgrade its defence capabilities.

Pakistan shot down several Indian jets, including three advanced French Rafale planes, during the four-day conflict in May 2025.

New Delhi pledged a record $85 billion defence budget earlier this month, a sum which defence minister Rajnath Singh described as “unprecedented”.

Last year, Singh announced an agreement with France to jointly design and manufacture a 120 kN jet engine within the next decade.

With an eye on Beijing’s growing influence in the key Indian Ocean shipping lanes, Delhi is also pushing to rapidly modernise its navy.

The country is in the process of placing orders for at least 75 ships and submarines, most of them built locally, the defence ministry said in December.

Bangladeshis turned out in large numbers at polling stations on Thursday to cast their votes in an election widely seen as key to restoring stability and economic growth following the 2024 removal of long-time prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a Gen Z-led uprising.

Analysts say a clear mandate is vital for ensuring steady governance in the nation of 175 million, after anti-Hasina protests sparked months of unrest and disrupted major industries, including the country’s massive garments sector — the world’s second-largest exporter.

The race features two rival coalitions led by former allies — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami — with opinion polls indicating an advantage for the BNP.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright vowed Wednesday to power a “dramatic increase” in Venezuelan oil output as part of a plan to “make the Americas great again.”

Wright met interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit Venezuela since US special forces captured and overthrew socialist leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3.

After talks with Rodriguez, who took over from Maduro and has struck a cooperative relationship with US President Donald Trump, Wright told reporters relations between the nations were “at a pivot in history.”

“I believe we will see an absolutely dramatic turn in the trajectory of this nation, in the state of the relationship between Venezuela and the United States, and in the business conditions in the hemisphere for commerce and trade,” he added.

In a meeting earlier with Rodriguez and oil industry executives, Wright insisted Trump was “passionately committed” to transforming ties between the two former foes.

Rodriguez said she supported a “long-term productive partnership” that was “beneficial to both countries.”

Trump approved former vice-president Rodriguez’s replacement of Maduro on the condition she complies with his demands on access to Venezuela’s vast oil resources, and on easing state repression.

Venezuela, once a major crude supplier to the United States, has the world’s largest proven reserves with more than 303 billion barrels, according to global oil cartel OPEC.

This amounts to about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves.

But in 2024, the South American country produced only about one percent of the world’s total crude, however — its industry left haggard by years of underinvestment, mismanagement and US sanctions.

Wright said Wednesday that the US oil embargo on Venezuela, in place since 2019, was “essentially over.”

– ‘Historical differences’ –

Trump wants US oil majors to rapidly rebuild the sector and boost output by millions of barrels per day, saying the United States and Caracas will share the profits.

The United States carried out a first sale of Venezuelan oil last month that made the Caribbean country $500 million.

Wright called for a “dramatic increase” in Venezuela’s production of oil, natural gas and electricity which would improve “the job opportunities, the wages and the quality of life” of all Venezuelans.

He said he and Rodriguez “spoke very candidly about the tremendous opportunities in front of us” as well as the challenges.

The president of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, Venezuela’s diplomatic representative to the United States, and the US charge d’affaires in Caracas joined Wednesday’s talks.

Rodriguez said she welcomed the opportunity for their two countries “to address their historical differences in a mature manner.”

– Dramatic thaw –

Wright’s visit to Caracas comes amidst a dramatic thaw in US-Venezuelan relations, which Caracas broke off in 2019 after Washington refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of tainted elections.

In a series of head-spinning reforms since Maduro’s fall, Rodriguez last month opened up the nationalized oil sector to private investment.

On Thursday, parliament could adopt a landmark bill granting amnesty to political prisoners.

Washington for its part has eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, allowing US companies to work with PDVSA and the government.

The challenge now is to persuade oil companies to invest in Venezuela despite persisting political instability, security concerns, and the need for heavy investment to restore production capacity.

The country produced 1.2 million oil barrels per day in 2025 — up from a historic low of about 360,000 in 2020 — but still far from the 3.0 million bpd it was pumping 25 years ago.

Rodriguez’s government aims to increase output by a further 18 percent this year.