Analysis: Indian defense sector

U.S., India at odds over nuclear deal

The United States and India appear to be at odds over whether their civilian nuclear agreement allows India to test nuclear weapons.

Facing heat at home for the deal, which the government’s communist allies have said sacrifices the nation’s sovereignty, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the 123 agreement would do no such thing.

"Let me reiterate that a decision to undertake future nuclear test would be our sovereign decision, one that rests solely with the government,” he said. “There is nothing in the agreement that would tie the hands of a future government."

Not so fast, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.

“The proposed 123 agreement has provisions in it that in an event of a nuclear test by India, then all nuclear cooperation is terminated," spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday, according to Indian media reports.

He noted the agreement also had a provision for India to return all materials, including reprocessed material covered by the agreement, the reports said.

The nuclear agreement has been criticized both in the United States and India and by non-proliferation advocates, who say the deal shreds the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of anti-proliferation efforts for decades. India, a nuclear weapons state since 1998, has refused to sign the NPT, which it calls discriminatory.

The United States says the agreement with India is an exception for a responsible ally.

Under the 123 deal, India can buy nuclear fuel and know-how on the global markets for its civilian nuclear program, which accounts for 3 percent of total power generated. It can reprocess the fuel and in exchange will separate its civilian and defense nuclear facilities and open the civilian ones to international safeguards and inspections.

India pressures Russia on sale of Chinese fighters to Pakistan

Following an Indian request, Russia has blocked the resale of its RD-93 engines for the Chinese-made JF-17 Thunder fighters to Pakistan.

The Indian Express newspaper reported this week that India had requested a “freeze” on the deal. In 1992 China and Russia signed a deal under which Moscow supplied Beijing 100 RD-93 engines with an option for an addition 400 units for the JF-17 Thunder fighters, jointly developed by China and Pakistan.

Pakistan wants between 150 and 300 aircraft in order to bridge the military gap with neighbor and rival India. The newspaper reported that Russia last year told China that the engines could not be exported without its permission, but Beijing went ahead with the deal in March, prompting protests from India.

The Indian Express reported that two fighters had been returned to China following Russian pressure. Moscow is expected to tell India of the decision during talks with India's National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan in Moscow later this month.

Pakistan spent $4.1 billion on defense in 2006-07. In comparison, India spent $20.11 billion during the same period.

India, Israel discuss unmanned combat copters

Right after concluding an agreement with Israel to jointly develop a medium-range missile, India has proposed that the two countries work together on unmanned combat helicopters.

The proposal came in a meeting between Indian Adm. Suresh Mehta and his Israeli counterpart, retiring navy chief Maj. Dan Bashat, in New Delhi last week.

Indian and Israeli news reports said the Indian navy estimates it could use 40-50 such helicopters. Such a system could be useful to both navies as their systems are vulnerable to C-802 shore-to-sea missiles, possessed by India’s rival and neighbor Pakistan and Israel’s enemies Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The discussions follow a July deal with the two sides agreed on a joint venture to develop a medium-range missile for the Indian air force to replace its Soviet-era Pichora weapon system.

Israel is now India’s No. 2 arms supplier. India has purchased defense equipment worth more than $5 billion from Israel over the past five years. These range from handheld thermal imagers and Barak anti-missile defense systems, aerostat and green pine radars to Heron and Searcher-II unmanned aerial vehicles.

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(e-mail: kcalamur@upi.com)