India has offered to significantly increase an order for U.S. attack helicopters, Indian officials said, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began a visit to New Delhi aimed at boosting defence and strategic ties. The Apache gunships and a deal for Chinook helicopters, both built by Boeing, will top the agenda in Mr Hagel’s talks with the new administration led by Prime Minister mr Narendra Modi. India has offered a follow-on order of 39 AH-64D Apache helicopters in addition to the 22 now being negotiated, a Defence Ministry official said. The sides have been wrangling over the price of the gunships, however, with the initial deal having been estimated to be worth $1.4 billion. The two countries have rapidly expanded military and business ties in recent years, despite discord over issues such as intellectual property rights and market access. Washington is keen to step up cooperation across the board, seeing India as a strategic partner in the face of an increasingly powerful and assertive China. According to defence research firm IHS Jane’s, India was the top foreign buyer of U.S. arms last year. An Apache deal would be the first big military contract since mr Modi’s government took office in May. Mr Hagel’s trip follows one by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week and is part of the build-up to talks between Mr Modi and President Mr Barack Obama in Washington in September. Mr Hagel’s talks will also cover military exercises and co-production and co-development of armaments and the renewal of a 10-year defence cooperation agreement that runs until 2015. Mr Hagel said the purpose of his visit went beyond arms sales. “Our interests are varied and common – stability, security, economics, possibilities, freedom,” he said en route to India. “I’ll be there, working, yes, our specific issues, but it’s larger … than that.”
Source: http://in.reuters.com/
Leave Your Comment