NEW DELHI: A trade deal may not quite be on the horizon during U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming India visit but he can expect a couple of high-value defence contracts. The Indian government has cleared the purchase of 24 MH-60 Romeo multi-role helicopters worth nearly $2.6 billion—a longstanding requirement of the Indian Navy. Another deal for six more Apache attack helicopters for the Indian Army could come through. Over the past 15 years, India has imported defence deals/platforms worth $20 billion from the United States. If strategic ties with the U.S. have risen to a new level, India has kept one of its old allies—Russia—happy too. Defence acquisitions from Russia have been to the tune of $16 billion in the last decade or so. India also buys defence items from Israel and France (the Rafale fighter jets). In this episode of ‘Simply Nitin’, StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale explains how India keeps balancing the see-saw to keep key global defence players engaged.
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