Brasilia, July 8 -- Brazil has dropped plans to buy the Akash air defence missiles from India and is negotiating with Italy for a more advanced system, a report said today, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Brasilia for a bilateral state visit.
The Rio Times, quoting government sources, said that the move to drop plans to buy the Akash defence system "shows that Brazil will work with Western suppliers when it benefits its own interests, even if it means turning away from BRICS partners like India".
Brazil's military has been seeking to upgrade its aging air defence, which can only shoot down threats up to 3,000 meters high.
Indian companies offered the Akash missile system, but Brazil's military "found it outdated compared...