India in talks with US to buy combat vehicles, seal fighter jet engine deal as Modi visits
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
India and the US have been in protracted talks over the co-production of Stryker combat vehicles, like the one pictured.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
NEW DELHI – India is in talks with the United States for the purchase and co-production of combat vehicles, as well as finalising a fighter jet engine deal, people familiar with the matter said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets President Donald Trump
The world’s biggest arms importer, India traditionally relies mainly on Russia.
In January, Mr Trump asked Mr Modi, who heads to Washington on Feb 12 for a two-day visit, to buy more US-made security equipment and move “towards a fair trading relationship”.
“I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump,” Mr Modi said in a statement on Feb 10 before leaving for France and the US.
“This visit will be an opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen our partnership, including in the areas of technology, trade, defence, energy, and supply chain resilience,” he said.
Mr Modi is preparing additional tariff cuts ahead of his meeting with Mr Trump that could boost American exports to India and avoid a potential trade war, government officials said.
India and the US have been in protracted talks over the co-production of Stryker combat vehicles made by General Dynamics and also used by the US Army.
They are also working to wrap up contract talks on co-production of fighter jet engines
“We certainly wish to expedite the transaction which we would like to have with the United States,” Defence Production Secretary Sanjeev Kumar told reporters on Feb 9, adding that such efforts were under way. But he did not elaborate.
Officials of India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics are set to meet in the coming weeks with US officials and the aerospace unit of General Electric, maker of GE-414 engines, for talks to finalise the deal by March, the sources said.
New Delhi has started talks with the Trump administration on a plan to buy Stryker vehicles after they were demonstrated late in 2024 for the Indian Army, two other sources said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The plan envisages that India will acquire a few hundred Strykers with a mounted anti-tank guided missile system, they added, and later co-produce them through a state-run firm, the sources said.
It was not immediately clear if the two potential deals would feature in talks between Mr Modi and Mr Trump, whose warning on Feb 8 that he would introduce new 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US could also hurt Indian companies. REUTERS
