India boosts arms purchases from US to obtain military technology

India has increased arms purchases from the United States mainly for the sake of obtaining military technologies and developing its own defence industry, Reuters said on July 10, citing unnamed senior sources in India's defence ministry.

"India’s multi-billion-dollar purchases of U.S. arms are less about shifting its reliance on Russian defence equipment and moving towards the West - it's more about developing its own domestic weapons industry, security officials and analysts say," the agency quoted sources as saying.

India is now the world's largest arms importer. New Delhi's defence agreements with other countries now necessarily provide for joint production of weapons or transfer of military technology, regardless of the state with which such deals are concluded, the agency's interlocutors stressed.