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No Rafale sale announcement before Indian PM visit to France - Hollande

French President Francois Hollande arrives to attend a ceremony with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris April 7, 2015, as part of his state visit to France in the wake of attacks in Tunis and Paris. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said there will be no news on the sale of Rafale fighter jets to India before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for a state visit to France. "There will be no announcement on the Rafale sales before the visit of Prime Minister Modi in France and I do not want the Indian premier's visit to be put in the context of a contract," Hollande told reporters in Paris. "We are working on it," Hollande added, when asked about the proposed sale of 126 Rafale jets to India. (Reporting by Elisabeth Pineau, Writing by Dominique Vidalon; editing by Mark John)