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April 28 (Reuters) - India signed a deal with France on Monday to buy 26 Rafale fighter aircraft worth 630 billion rupees ($7.41 billion) for its navy, an official from the Indian defence ministry told Reuters.

The purchase was approved earlier this month by India's security cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reuters reported.

The Indian Air Force currently operates 36 Rafale fighters, while the navy's aircraft fleet mainly comprises Russian MiG-29 jets.

The deal comes as India seeks to modernise its military, reduce dependence on Russian-origin equipment, and boost domestic weapons production to supply forces deployed along two contentious borders with Pakistan and China.

The Indian navy has flagged China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean over the past decade, with Beijing operating dual-purpose vessels in the region and maintaining a military base in Djibouti since 2017.

It also marks another step in India's long-standing reliance on French military hardware, including Mirage 2000 jets bought in the 1980s and Scorpene-class submarines ordered in 2005.

($1 = 84.9950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Shivam Patel and Surbhi Misra; Editing by YP Rajesh, Bernadette Baum and Aidan Lewis)

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