India-US $4 billion deal: India and United States are almost done making a big defence deal worth around 4 billion dollars. This deal is for six more P-8I long range planes that help the Indian Navy look after the ocean and also fight submarines. If this deal goes final, Indian Navy will get much stronger in the Indian Ocean where China has been sending more and more ships and submarines.
A team from America is coming to Delhi between 16 to 19 September to talk about this. This team will have people from the US Department of Defence and also from Boeing, the company that makes P-8I aircraft.
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Inside this group there will be members from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, from the Navy International Programs Office, from the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft Program Office, and also from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, reported India Today. Each of them has a role, like NIPO looks after US navy security partnerships in other countries, PMA-290 takes care of patrol aircraft programs around the world, and DSCA manages defence cooperation deals.
No impact from trade problems
Earlier people thought that because America put high tariffs on India for buying oil from Russia, maybe big defence deals will get stopped. But this is not true. Reports from India Today say these trade steps have not touched defence contracts at all, so this aircraft deal is safe.
The Indian Navy already has twelve P-8I planes. First eight came in 2009, then four more arrived in 2016. Navy wanted ten more in total, but in 2019 the approval was only for six. In May 2021 the US State Department already gave the green signal for this sale.
These planes can fly for very long hours and can find submarines even deep in the sea. They are very useful for India’s ocean security network. Experts say once India gets six more, it will be able to watch the ocean even better.
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Chinese naval ships and submarines have been moving a lot in the Indian Ocean, sometimes saying it is for research, sometimes for anti-piracy. Indian Navy already watches them closely.
Future plans with drones
This year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited America in February, both countries gave a joint statement saying this aircraft deal is almost done. Only last parts need to be set.
At the same time, India is also going to get thirty-one MQ-9B drones by the year 2029. These drones can stay in the air and give live pictures from the ocean, which has more than fifty navy ships and almost 20,000 merchant vessels passing all the time.
