Various Cases Of Defence Procurement With US Progressing As Per Procedure: Ministry

The news agency Reuters in a report on Friday had said that New Delhi had put on hold its plans to procure US weapons and aircraft as a fall out of the 50 per cent tariff announced by US President Donald Trump. The report identified that deals which could be impacted by the freeze are purchase of six additional Boeing P-8i maritime surveillance aircraft for Indian Navy, Stryker combat vehicles, and shoulder fired Javelin anti-tank missiles. The report said that the defence purchases could go ahead once India had clarity on tariffs and the direction of bilateral ties, but "just not as soon as they were expected to.”

The defence ministry denied any such move, calling the report "false and fabricated."

Reuters also reported that India had been planning to send defence minister Rajnath Singh to Washington in the coming weeks for an announcement on some of the purchases, but that trip has been cancelled.

Sources said that no date had been finalised for the trip.

Last month US defence secretary Pete Hegseth had invited defence minister Singh to the US for an in-person meeting to take the bilateral defence partnership forward. Hegseth and Singh were to sign the 10-year US-India Defence Framework during the meeting.