"A decision to speed up the process of concluding a deal was made at a meeting between Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich at the beginning of the week," the source said.
"India is ready to sell BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles with a range of 290 kilometers [180 miles] to Hanoi. If the deal is concluded, Vietnam will be the first country to receive these missiles manufactured by Russia and India jointly," the source added.
According to the source, Vietnam wanted to purchase BrahMos missiles from India in 2011 but New Delhi refused to conclude a deal as it didn’t want to irritate China.
"Also, India views Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Brazil as the nearest potential customers of the BrahMos cruise missile. These countries are interested in purchasing this cutting-edge cruise missile with a speed three times as much as the sound velocity," the source added.
As spokesman for the Russian-Indian BrahMos Aerospace Company Praveen Pathak told TASS, "other countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, have shown interest in the Russian-Indian BrahMos missile."
"However, the delivery prospects require further discussions and analyses," he added.
According to Pathak, Russia and India have determined a group of 14 countries, with which they can sign export contracts for the delivery of the Russian-Indian BrahMos cruise missile.
"The talk is about those countries, with which both Russia and India have good relations," Pathak said.
According to some sources, a contract with Vietnam, which will be the first export contract on the BrahMos cruise missile, can be signed before the end of 2016.
-ends-
from Defense Aerospace - Press releases http://ift.tt/1tgrS5G
via Defense
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