NEW DELHI, April 3. /TASS/. India's council on defense procurement has approved plans of developing a Maitri short-range surface-to-air missile jointly with France, The Hindu reported Friday.

According to the edition's source at the defense ministry, the missile is to be developed by India's Defense Research & Development Organization and France's MBDA, a leading European player in the sphere of missile systems.

The agreement on understanding was signed in 2013 but then the process stalled as the Maitri missile possesses similar characteristics to the Akash missile that is already in service in teh Indian Armed Forces. However, the Indian Navy said that Akash can't be installed on ships.

It's expected that the issue will be discussed during Indian prime minister's visit to France on April 9-12.