- विज्ञापन -
New Delhi: The Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Monday said that India would be looking with an “open mind” to US President Donald Trump’s offer to sell F-35 fighter jets to India.
Speaking to reporters, Singh clarified that the offer has not been formally made and that the US would be exploring a roadmap to make the F-35 available.
“It is not an offer yet. What he (Trump) said is that they will look at a roadmap to make that (F-35) available. We will look into the offer after it becomes a firm offer. In any case, our procurements are done through a process… Creating an option is important for us and we will look into it with an open mind,” Singh said.
He further emphasised that India’s procurement process will guide any future decisions, highlighting that the Defence Ministry has a procurement plan in place.
He mentioned that India has a large acquisition budget of Rs 1,80,000 crore for the next financial year and Rs 1,60,000 crore for the current year, which will be used for various procurements.
“The Defence Ministry has a procurement plan for the kinds of things you have mentioned (fighter planes, submarine and missiles). But obviously those will be announced only after the procurement process is complete… Yes, there are plans… Obviously, India has a very large acquisition budget of Rs 1,80,000 crore for the next financial year and about Rs 1,60,000 crore for this financial year and we will intend to utilise them through these procurements,” the Defence Secretary said.
