NEW DELHI Russia has agreed to sell seven cryogenic rocket engines to India but it will not transfer their technology, an Indian government minister said Monday.


Minister of State for External Affairs Raghunandan Lal Bhatia told the Indian parliament that Russia had agreed to sell four engines to Delhi initially with provision for another three later. "This will be without transfer of technology," Bhatia said. Bhatia's comments differed from those of Indian space scientists who claimed in September last year that their colleagues had acquired the drawings of the engines from Russian experts, despite objections from the United States.


"We have even received drawings of the engine," a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization had said.