The deal has been in the works for the past five years and is now in ‘Gend Bharat’s court’
Washington: India and the US are keen to quickly finalize a deal for 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones worth over $3 billion, which will help New Delhi strengthen its overall surveillance network along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Indian Ocean . Officials associated with the deal said that the deal has been in the works for the last five years and now the ‘ball is in India’s court’. That is, this deal will be finalized as soon as India gets the green signal.
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It is believed that the MQ-9B Predator armed drones will increase the power of all three forces (land, water and air) of India. It is considered an important part of India’s national security and defense needs. Officials did not elaborate, but denied that any bureaucratic hurdles or regulatory issues were involved.
The deal was announced in 2017, but is yet to be finalized. Asked about the delay in the deal, Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs Jessica Lewis said, “I’ll have to take it back and look into that.” This defense deal has been pending for a long time due to unknown reasons. However, the issues are believed to have been discussed during the meetings that National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval had with the top US leadership, including his counterpart Jake Sullivan.
(This news has not been edited by NDTV team. It is published directly from syndicate feed.)
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