US okays record $2 bn arms sale to India

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has okayed the single largest arms transfer to India to date, telling the US Congress it has factored in ���political, military, economic, human rights and arms control considerations��� while approving the sale of eight Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft worth $2.1 billion.

The US state department formally intimated Congress to this effect in a March 12 notification, taking Indo-US military ties to a higher level, both in terms of strategic relationship and old-fashioned dollars.

The $2.1 billion India will pay for the eight P-8Is is almost double the $1 billion it spent on acquiring six Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes last year. The I in P-8I denotes India, since it is the first foreign buyer of a customized variant of the P-8A Poseidon that is still being developed for the US Navy.