India offers to buy more Apache helicopters from US
07 Aug 2014
India has offered to buy more Apache helicopters from the US in a $1.4 billion deal, the first major military contract since a new government took office in New Delhi. Besides the Apache gunships India is also looking to buy Chinook helicopters, both built by Boeing.
The deals are expected to be finalised during talks with visiting US defence secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday.
India has offered a follow-on order of 39 AH-64D Apache helicopters in addition to the 22 now being negotiated, reports citing a defence ministry official said. The two sides have been wrangling over the price of the gunships in a deal estimated to be worth $1.4 billion.
Hagel, who arrived in New Delhi on an official visit, his first visit to India in his current capacity, will meet defence minister Arun Jaitley on Friday. He will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides meeting external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, national security advisor Ajit Doval and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him en route to New Delhi, Hagel said he recognized India's intent to maintain its independence and develop its own industrial base.
"No country wants to be seen as a second-cousin" to the United States, Hagel said, adding that the US must find ways to "adjust to what India's political requirements are, how they want to handle the relationship."
While the United States has rapidly increased military sales to India in recent years, despite discord in areas such as trade and intellectual property rights, Washington wants to further step up defence cooperation with India, which it sees as a key strategic partner in Asia in the face of an increasingly powerful and assertive China.
The initial batch of helicopters is meant to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of Soviet-era aircraft and will be armed with Hellfire and Stinger missiles.
The Indian army has separately requested a fleet of at least 39 of these attack aircraft.
"The point is we are looking at 60 to 70 pieces eventually, so the expectation is the vendor will factor that in, in the price negotiations," reports quoted the defence ministry official as saying.
Hagel will also be seen in Australia as he looks to focus on converging US and Indian interests in the Asia-Pacific, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon sources are concerned over New Delhi's unconcern over military ties, and Hagel's visit is to nurture the bilateral defence ties and not to ink any deal.
Both sides are also looking to begin negotiations for a new defence agreement to replace the ''New Framework Agreement, 2005'' that will expire in June 2015. The current agreement was signed in Washington by then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee at the height of US-India relations, on 28 June 2005. It was followed by an agreement between the two heads of government, on 18 July 2005, to go ahead with the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement.
Washington is unhappy at New Delhi's ''lack of enthusiasm'' in collaborating on 13 areas specified in the 2005 agreement. These include collaboration in multinational operations in the common interest; expanding two-way defence trade; expand collaboration in missile defence; conduct exchanges on defence strategy; increase exchanges in intelligence; and conduct strategic-level discussions between the senior leadership of both defence ministries.
