By Prashanth Parameswaran
Obama’s visit is an opportunity for both sides to boost bilateral defense ties.
As U.S. President Barack Obama prepares for his visit to New Delhi next week to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defense officials from both sides have been rushing to finalize the components of what could amount to a much-needed boost in this dimension of the U.S.-India relationship.
As is often the case, much of the attention ahead of the visit has been focused on potential defense deals that make for good headlines. While there has been no shortage of such billion-dollar arrangements – including ones for Chinook and Apache helicopters – they may or may not be announced as part of Obama’s trip.
Irrespective of the outcome, that should not detract from the significant progress that both sides have made on this score over the last few years. By some estimates, India has ordered around $10 billion worth of U.S. weapons in the past decade, with at least about $7 billion more reportedly in the pipeline. With this recent surge in weapons sales, the United States emerged as India’s biggest arms supplier in 2013, displacing Russia which has traditionally been New Delhi’s preferred choice.
Read the full story at The Diplomat