India buys Israeli missiles ahead of Netanyahu visit

India has signed several big-ticket defence deals since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014


Afp January 02, 2018
PHOTO: AFP

NEW DELHI: India is to buy 131 surface-to-air missiles from Israel in a $70 million deal, the defence ministry announced Tuesday ahead of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Barak missiles made by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are to be used for India's first aircraft carrier which is under construction.

Netanyahu will lead a business delegation to India on a four day trip expected in mid-January.

Israel has become a major defence supplier to India, selling an average of $1 billion of military equipment each year.

Last April the two countries signed a military deal worth nearly $2 billion which includes the supply over several years of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.

It was unclear whether the deal announced Tuesday was part of that.

The Indian defence ministry also said it had approved the purchase of 240 bombs from Russia's JSC Rosonboron Exports for $188 million.

"This procurement will address the deficiency of precision-guided munitions in the Indian Air Force (IAF) arsenal, besides enhancing the offensive capabilities of the IAF," it said in a statement.

India, which has longstanding territorial disputes with its neighbours China and Pakistan, has signed several big-ticket defence deals since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

It has however been moving away from relying on traditional ally Russia for military hardware.

COMMENTS (5)

Roosh | 6 years ago | Reply India's mountainous expenses on military complex and induction of new and sophisticated weaponry military domain would in fact make the regional stability more fragile and would make the other regional actors to seek for alternatives in order to respond to India's everyday military developments the same way and to maintain the regional stability. Secondly, this military muscle buildup would not make the tummy of the poors to be filled up. This is the need of the hour to focus on the priorities and which are to make the country developed.
Robert | 6 years ago | Reply Indo-Israel missile deal supplements Indian military build-up. It also encourages Indian strategic competitors to refurbish their defensive capabilities. Thus, the lethal arms race between the belligerent neighbours taxes the regional prosperity.
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