India planning to buy US armed drones to counter China, Pakistan: Reports
New Delhi: The Indian government is planning to buy 30 armed drones from the U.S. to boost its sea and land defenses as tensions persist with neighbors China and Pakistan, media reports said.
The South Asian nation will approve next month the $3 billion purchase of 30 MQ-9B Predator drones manufactured by San Diego-based General Atomics, officials told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified speaking with the media.
India is emerging as a strategic defense partner for the U.S., particularly in countering Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and some areas of Southeast Asia, the media platform reported.
“U.S.-India relations in the present day are the result of decades of dedicated efforts by both countries,” Vivek Lall, chief executive for General Atomics Global Corp.,was quoted as saying by Bloomberg in an email. “The fact that defense cooperation remains high on the list of priorities for the bilateral relationship, is a sign of our mutual security objectives.”
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