More than 400 firms have said they will attend DefExpo-08, a four-day defense exhibition scheduled to start Feb. 16 in New Delhi.

Since 1999, India has signed defense deals worth $25 billion, a figure that is expected to climb by another $30 billion by 2012, according to The Times of India. Recent deals with U.S., Russian and Israeli defense firms are only going to pique interest in those countries as well as others that don't want to be left behind as India bolsters its defense capabilities.

"Around 40 percent of them (companies visiting) are international companies. We expect around 450 companies in all. Moreover, official delegations from 45 countries are also expected," an Indian Defense Ministry official told the newspaper.

While India is seeking large defense deals, its focus is on joint ventures, a bid to boost its domestic defense industry.

According to the paper, India is looking to buy 126 multirole aircraft for its air force at a price of $10.4 billion; besides this it wants 317 light helicopters for the air force and the army at a cost of $2.5 billion; the country's navy is looking to buy eight Boeing P-8i long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft that have anti-submarine warfare capabilities for $2 billion and the coast guard wants six surveillance and search-and-rescue operations.

Top India, Pakistan think tanks sign partnership

Two top government-funded think tanks from India and Pakistan that focus on strategic relations have set up a partnership that aims for a partnership between their researchers.

The Hindu newspaper reported that New Delhi-based Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses and Pakistan's Institute of Strategic Studies of Islamabad signed a memorandum of understanding that is seen, according to the paper, "as an unprecedented confidence building measure between the two countries, bring(ing) together as it does two important institutes steeped in mutual antagonism."

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry funds ISSI while India's Defense Ministry funds IDSA. Traditionally, the two institutions have viewed each other with suspicion, but the deal shows how far relations between the two countries have come since they almost went to war in 2003.

Indian army chief eyes pay hikes for force

India's army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, said he expected the government to raise military salaries in a bid to boost sagging recruitment figures.

"We are awaiting the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations," he said Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he was on an official visit. "We hope for a fairly decent package to make the armed forces attractive to the youth who are entering the job market."

The comments were reported by the semiofficial Press Trust of India.

Last month Kapoor said India was facing a shortage of cadets lining up to join the country's prestigious military schools and may have to consider conscription in order to stem the flow.

There has been a drop in the number of applicants to join the National Defense Academy and the Indian Military Academy, the country's two premier military schools. The Times of India reported in January that 190 candidates accepted the offer to join the 300-capacity NDA while 86 said they will go to the IMA, which has a capacity of 250.

The Indian army is the world's No. 2 all-volunteer force, and the problem is seen among officer-level recruits only. The newspaper reported that the army is 11,238 officers short of its capacity of 46,615.

"We need to have a reasonably large pool of educated youth available and emoluments have to be attractive to attract them as the corporate sector was giving a much better package," Kapoor said in Malaysia.