U.S. President Donald Trump plans to significantly increase weapons sales this year including the Supersonic F-35 fighter jet, including the Supersonic F-35 fighter, following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 35 fighter jets.
Modi met with Trump in Washington on Thursday, where they discussed everything from trade to immigration, and the security on the agenda is high.
"From this year, we will increase military sales to India," Trump said in a joint press conference with Modi.
"We also pave the way for the way we will eventually provide the F-35 stealth fighter to India," he said.
The U.S. president said the two countries will work together on security issues, including "radical Islamic terrorism threat" and a trade deal that will allow India to import more U.S. oil and gas to narrow U.S. trade with India deficit.
Modi has only visited Trump's fourth world leader since Trump's inauguration, but the two have developed close ties during Trump's first term. These relationships may have helped leaders reach large defense agreements.
Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri later said the F-35 Stealth Fighter Deal is currently a proposal and there is no formal process.
The White House did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on the deal. Lockheed Martin, who made the F-35 jet, also did not immediately comment on Trump's ambition to sell the jet to India.
Foreign military sales in the United States, such as the F-35, are considered government-to-government transactions, and the Pentagon is an intermediary between defense contractors and foreign governments.
Since 2008, India has agreed to purchase more than $20 billion in U.S. defense products.
Last year, India agreed to purchase 31 MQ-9B Seaguardian and Skyguardian drones after more than six years of deliberation.
According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, New Delhi is expected to spend more than $200 billion in modernizing its military over the next decade.
"Harder negotiators"
After meeting with Modi, Trump praised the Indian Prime Minister, who he described as a "harder negotiator" than his own.
Modi, in turn, described Trump as a “friend” and said he would adopt his president’s famous slogan “Make America Great Again” in India.
Besides their “special bond,” the two leaders have strategic reasons to keep close together, besides what Trump describes.
The United States sees India as a frustration of China's rising power, both of which are members of the quadrilateral security agreement between Japan and Australia.
India and China share a static 3,488-km (2,167-mile) border, and in 2020 tensions fell into violent skirmishes that killed more than 20 soldiers.
New Delhi also needs American weapons to complete its ambitious and expensive plan to modernize its military over the next decade.
Although India is a long-term customer of the US defense industry, its top supplier has historically been Russia.
However, Moscow is currently not present due to the war with Ukraine and international sanctions. Adding the F-35 to the Indian army would be a major victory for New Delhi, as only a small number of countries, such as Israel, Japan and NATO states, could buy from the United States.