India is weighing French-made engines for its fighter jets as talks over joint manufacturing with the US move at a sluggish pace, according to senior officials in New Delhi familiar with the matter.

New Delhi is in talks with Paris-based Safran SA over the engines, the officials said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are still private. They did not clarify whether India would buy these engines or seek to jointly produce them.

India’s advanced homegrown fighter, Tejas Mark-2, was to be powered by the US-made GE F-414 engine. Under the Biden administration, New Delhi and Washington had agreed to jointly manufacture the engines, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to diversify defense ties away from Russia.

While talks with the US have slowed down recently, the two nations

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