NEW DELHI – *Indian Navy defence deal with US to pose direct threat toPakistan Navy warships in Arabian Sea.*
India’s cabinet has approved a plan to buy US naval helicopters, agovernment source said on Wednesday, without giving details.
Media reports earlier said India was likely to give final approval to a $2.6billion deal for Lockheed Martin helicopters ahead of a visit by USPresident Donald Trump.
The White House has said Trump will visit India Feb. 24-25.
The US State Department approved the sale of the choppers to India lastyear along with radars, torpedoes and 10 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.
Many of India’s warships are without any helicopters because of years ofunderfunding, and the navy had sought their acquisition as a top priority.
The multirole helicopters from Lockheed are meant to help the Indian navytrack submarines in the Indian Ocean, where China is expanding its presence.
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Washington sees India as the linchpin of its new Indo-Pacific strategy tocounter the rise of China.
The United States has also offered India the armed version of Guardiandrones that were originally authorized for sale as unarmed for surveillancepurposes, the first such approval for a country outside the NATO alliance.
India plans to buy 30 of these unmanned aircraft for surveillance of theIndian Ocean, at a cost estimated to be about $2.5 billion, from GeneralAtomics.
However, the defense official said the deal is unlikely immediately becauseof lack of funds.
