India-US sign $ 3bn military equipment deal |
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday India will buy 3 billion dollars worth of military equipment, including attack helicopters, as the two countries deepen defence and commercial ties in an attempt to balance the weight of China in the region. India and the United States were also making progress on a big trade deal. Negotiators from the two sides have wrangled for months to narrow differences on farm goods, medical devices, digital trade and new tariffs. On Tuesday, Trump sat down for one-on-one talks with Modi followed by delegation-level meetings to try and move forward on issues that have divided the two countries, mainly a festering trade dispute. After the meetings, Trump said his visit had been productive, with the conclusion of deals to buy U.S. helicopters for the Indian military. India will buy 24 SeaHawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin equipped with Hellfire missiles worth 2.6 billion dollars and plans an order for six AH-64E Apache copters. India is modernising its military to narrow a gap with China and has increasingly turned towards the United States over its traditional supplier, Russia. As part of the deals announced, US firm ExxonMobil and Indian Oil have signed an agreement to help India import more Liquefied Natural Gas.
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