PNN – Bloomberg wrote that Indian officials have announced to the US that they are no longer interested in buying Washington-made F-35 fighters.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Bloomberg wrote, quoting informed officials, that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has announced to the American side that it no longer wishes to purchase the F-35 fighter.
According to Bloomberg, the Modi government prefers the development of domestic military industries to contracts for the purchase of foreign-made fighters. Meanwhile, Washington is still trying to expand arms exports to New Delhi.
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This position has been announced while US President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India from August 1.
During Modi’s visit to the White House in February, Trump offered to sell these fighters to New Delhi. However, Indian officials have said the government is more interested in co-designing and co-producing defense equipment within India.
According to Bloomberg, in the meantime, Russia has put forward a proposal that is more consistent with India’s defense priorities. In July, Moscow presented a package including the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57E fighter and the Sukhoi Sukhoi Su-35M multirole fighter.