US again shows hunger for Indian defence deals

Eager to bag the $10-billion deal for 126 fighter aircraft and future sales of the C-17 transport aircraft that the Indian air force wants to acquire, a top Pentagon official on Thursday made a fresh pitch for US companies to get the contract.

Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defence for policy, told members of the Asia Society in Washington, "US companies are eager to work with India as the Indian military continues to modernise." She said the US defence department does not view defence equipment sales as mere commercial transactions, but looks at them as a growth area for the India-US partnership.

"I am and will continue to be a strong advocate of US solutions for India's defence needs," Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defence for policy, told members of the Asia Society. "US companies are eager to work with India as the Indian military continues to modernise."

In a major policy speech on Indo-US defence relations at a seminar on 'Investing in the future of US-India defense relations', she said, "I am and will continue to be a strong advocate of US solutions for India's defence needs. US companies are eager to work with India as the Indian military continues to modernise."

Noting that two American companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are among six competitors for India's biggest fighter-jet purchase in 15 years, she said, "We are also looking at future sales of the C-17 aircraft as another example of near term defence sales."

She added, "We understand that India is making a strategic as well as an economic choice when it makes defence acquisitions," she said.