[ravager]

US power is currently diminishing in Asia. Let for the moment assume that US has only good intentions for India. Even then there is a limit to what US military can do. The best weapons brought from US will not help win you a war otherwise Pakistan would have won in 65 and 71 not India. Weapons brought from a foreign sources will only keep you at the mercy of that source. It will not help you become an independent global power. The road to indegenisation is long and arduous but you have to start somewhere. India cannot become a superpower by just buying off the shelf weapons from outside.

[Rockingham]

By all means, India should develop an indigenous arms industry. The best way to do that is through competitive solicitations by India's military for what it needs and that Indian industry can reliably provide.

At present, much of what India buys from indigenous sources is over-priced, obsolete, or defective. Procurement officials are too often slow, incompetent, and corrupt. And India's national security strategy is unclear, making for a lack of coherence in procurement.

With a pressing need for new high end weapons and equipment, India would be well-served to get those weapons on the best terms possible without extreme demands for technology sharing and domestic production. Otherwise, India will expand and compound the problems of its dysfunctional procurement system and arms industry.

Again, to sum up, India needs weapons and equipment from foreign vendors in order to boost her military capabilities, and she needs reform in procurement before she can hope to have a potent indigenous arms industry.

And, sorry about having to say this, but India does not have the fundamental strengths needed to become a superpower. She will have to work hard just to become and remain an effective and respected regional power in the coming decades.