WASHINGTON - The United States will increase military sales to India starting in 2025 and will also offer F-35 fighter jets, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
"We will increase military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to eventually provide India with F-35 fighter jets," President Trump told reporters.
President Trump did not give a timeline, but military sales to other countries, especially for the most advanced technology, such as the F-35 aircraft, typically take years to complete.
Speaking during a joint press conference after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Trump also said the countries had reached an agreement that, among other things, provides for India to import more oil and gas from the United States, to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries.
President Trump also said that Washington and New Delhi would work together to confront what he called "the threat of radical Islamic terrorism."
Lockheed Martin LMT.N, which makes the F-35 jet, did not immediately comment on President Trump's expressed ambitions to sell the jets to India.
Sales of military products like the F-35 to other countries are considered government-to-government deals, where the Pentagon acts as an intermediary between the defense contractor company and a foreign government.
India has agreed to buy over $20 billion worth of US defense products since 2008. Last year, India agreed to buy 31 MQ-9B SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian drones after discussions that lasted more than six years.
According to the US Congressional Research Service, New Delhi is expected to spend over $200 billion over the next decade to modernize its military.
Lockheed is producing three models of the new fighter jet for the US military and allies, including Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Belgium.
Russia has been India's main arms supplier for decades, the world's largest arms importer, and its fighter jets are part of India's military fleet. But Moscow's ability to export has been hampered in recent years by the war in Ukraine, prompting New Delhi to turn its eyes west.
Russia has offered to manufacture its fifth-generation fighter jet, the Sukhoi Su-57, in India for the Indian Air Force, a Russian and an Indian official said Tuesday, as Moscow seeks to maintain strong ties with New Delhi. (A2 Televizion)
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