By Pierre Tran
PARIS — French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian talked about the Rafale fighter jet but did not pitch the Mistral helicopter carrier in meetings in Malaysia with his counterpart, Hishammuddin Hussein, a defense official here said Tuesday.
Le Drian has not visited India on his way back to France, the official said. A visit to India had been planned, French website La Tribune had reported.
“The minister talked about the Rafale offer” in Malaysia, the official said. “The Mistral was not part of the discussion.”
Le Drian flew into a Malaysian airbase on Monday with a high-level parliamentary and industry team, dubbed the French export team, and went on to meet Prime Minister Najib Razak and Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Le Drian and Hishammuddin took part in a meeting of the French-Malaysian Joint Defense Committee.
Malaysia is looking at the Dassault Rafale and affordability is a key issue.
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