Protracted negotiations in final stages with rumours circulating that the US may have withdrawn its objections (282 words)

Published: 10/18/2001

Media sources in Moscow and India have quoted Deputy Premier Ilya Klebanov as saying that the long negotiations to lease four Tu-22M-3 bombers to India may be concluded next month. The agreement will be followed by an enlargement of the existing military technical agreement, signed in 2000. The talks are also reported to have included further discussions about India's involvement in the fifth generation fighter programme, recently put out to tender for Russian designers. The announcement of the deal, made during a visit to India by Klebanov and after a meeting with the newly reappointed Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, came a few hours before a visit by US Secretary of State Colin Powell and against a background of Pakistan and India exchanging fire over the control line in Kashmir. The aircraft could potentially give India a long-range nuclear strike capability. The value of the deal is difficult to estimate, but when originally proposed in late 1999, was reported to be structured as a lease with a buyout option for the Indians. The price of each aircraft, to be completed from existing airframes at KAPO, is thought to be between $30-40m. The deal for the bomber was discussed in June 2001 between India and Russia in talks, but was reported to have been delayed due to American objections to the delivery of what the US considers to be a strategic weapons system in the subcontinent. Given the close timing of Powell's visit and Klebanov's statements, it is unclear whether the US has agreed not to protest the sale.

Article ID: 2832