India Rafale deal unlikely before September

There is some dispiriting news for French Defence Minister as he arrives in New Delhi to push the 126 fighter Rafale aircraft deal, said to be India’s biggest-ever military tender.
Given the state of play in the Defence Ministry, the deal is unlikely to be finalised before the end of September. By then the election season would have set in and no bureaucrat would want to sign the deal. In such an eventuality, the deal is likely to be decided by the next government.
thehindu