Opinion
Mint Quick Edit | Marine Rafales will boost India’s maritime security
Summary
- A deal with France to acquire 26 marine fighter jets is reportedly on the verge of being signed. It seems to be part of a plan to keep Chinese dominance of the Indian Ocean region at bay.
India’s cabinet committee on security, as widely reported on Wednesday, has approved a deal worth ₹64,000 crore with France to buy 26 of Rafale’s marine fighter jets. The agreement is expected to be signed soon and the aircraft are to be delivered by 2030-31, reports indicate.
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This government-to-government deal will include weapons, simulators, crew training and logistics support, as also upgrades and equipment for the 36 Rafale jets acquired earlier for India’s Air Force.
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The aim, clearly, is to give India’s maritime strike capabilities a boost and augment its ability to patrol the Indian Ocean region, where Chinese activity has been on the rise. Whether upcoming Indian facilities at Agaléga, a pair of Mauritian islands, is part of New Delhi’s counter-plan, as some reckon, remains unclear. But India is stepping up its vigil, as it should.
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In an era of Chinese spy ships disguised as research vessels, there’s no such thing as being over-vigilant. We have no word yet on India’s interest in US-made fighter aircraft such as Lockheed Martin’s F-25s, a big order which could reduce the country’s trade surplus with the US. Matters of national defence, however, needn’t take trade concerns into account.
