India speeds up imports of French jets as part of Indian Ocean defence build-up

Pratap Chakravarty

6 September 2024 at 5:22 am·1-min read

French maritime jets are among the military hardware India looks to acquire as it strengthens its position against China in the Indian Ocean. Delhi has unveiled a shopping list worth tens of millions of euros, just days after launching a new nuclear submarine that it says will help establish "strategic balance" in the region.

India this week agreed to speed up the import of 26 Rafale maritime jets by jettisoning plans to fit local radar on the French planes, which are meant for its latest aircraft carrier.

It also gave the green light to procure seven stealth frigates, patrol boats, utility aircraft, air defence radar and 1,770 modern battle tanks to replace India’s armada of Soviet-origin T-72 tanks, officials said.

The acquisitions spree comesthe week after India launched the ballistic missile submarine INS Arighat on 29 August, eight years after commissioning its first home-grown nuclear submarine.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Arighat, which means "destroyer of the enemy" in Sanskrit, would "enhance India's nuclear deterrence and help in establishing strategic balance and peace in the region".

The comments were a veiled reference to China, which fought a bloody war with India over a border row in 1962. Tensions resurfaced when soldiers from the rival armies clashed in a remote Kashmir valley in 2020, with 24 lives lost.

Showcasing INS Arighat as the work of local shipbuilders, the defence minister insisted India was striving to become a "developed nation".

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