Or maybe Indians have finally realized that the world in principle doesn't revolve around Indian whims and wishes. Maybe they are trying to save face since the deal is going to happen any way.
Or maybe the Indians are waiting to see how far the Russians can go with this...
India is the world's leading importer of weapons, while the United States and Russia are responsible for about half of the globe's arms exports. I’m sure India will have the final call in this matter.
In 2009 India imported $237 million in military equipment from the U.S. but this jumped to $1.9 billion last year, as almost half of its $13.4 billion defense procurement budget went overseas. India accounted for nearly 10 percent of the $63 billion international defense market, outstripping much of the Middle East and China.
India is outpacing everyone!
The U.S., which remained the largest exporter of military equipment, displaced Russia as India's biggest arms supplier. In total, the U.S. exported $25.2 billion of military equipment in 2013, compared with $24.9 billion the previous year.
India, with total defense imports of $5.9 billion, became the most enthusiastic buyer from the U.S., knocking Saudi Arabia out of the top spot with purchases that included Boeing's C-17A strategic transport aircraft and P-8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
India overtook China to become the biggest arms importer in 2010, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which monitors the global arms trade.
Until now, however, most of India's contracted arms purchases have been from Russia, partly because it has needed to replace or upgrade equipment bought from its former ally the Soviet Union.
In the case India says no and the Russians still want to go ahead with this and do business with Pakistan, they could be in serious trouble. Russia has nearly $39 billion worth of military equipment on order by India, representing nearly a third of Russia’s total arms exports.
All the US wants is to hurt Russian economy and undermine its power. A helicopter deal between Russia and Pakistan against the Indian will may give the Narendra Modi government a clear precedent to go ahead and become new US closest friend.
There is nothing that the Russians are providing to India that the Americans cannot offer an equivalent or even better solution.
Let’s wait and see what happens!
