Amid signs of progress in India-US trade deal talks, a US team of defence officials and Boeing representatives is likely to visit India next week for talks on a multi-billion dollar deal for patrol aircraft.According to a Bloomberg report, officials from the US Defense Department and Boeing will be in India in the coming days to discuss the currently stalled $4 billion deal for six P-8I naval patrol aircraft.The visit comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has said that trade deal talks with India are ongoing and PM Narendra Modi has responded by calling India and the US ‘close friends and natural partners’.Trade deal talks between the two countries had stalled after Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods exported to the US, following it up with an additional 25% tariff for India’s crude oil trade with Russia – taking the total tariff figure to 50%.
India-US defence deals: P-8I naval aircraft in focus
According to the Bloomberg report, the discussions will focus on India acquiring six P-8I naval patrol aircraft. Although the procurement was approved in 2019, subsequent negotiations came to a standstill.Previously, India acquired eight P-8Is through a $2.2 billion agreement in 2009, followed by four additional aircraft ten years later. The fleet, stationed in Tamil Nadu in southern India, conducts extensive surveillance operations across the Indian Ocean region and strategic maritime passages.According to Bloomberg, the scheduled US delegation visit in the coming week indicates ongoing bilateral engagement on vital matters like defence, despite trade-related tensions. These potential purchases could assist in reducing America’s trade imbalance with India, aligning with Trump’s main goals.India, which ranks as the second-largest global arms importer, has significantly reduced its defence procurement from Russia, the report said.Russian arms constituted only 36% of India’s military imports in the previous year, showing a substantial decrease from 76% in 2009, as reported by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.Simultaneously, India has strengthened its defence relationship with the US, securing agreements valued at approximately $20 billion since 2018, as documented by the US Congressional Research Service. In October, India approved the purchase of 31 long-range drones worth over $3 billion from the American defence manufacturer General Atomics.
