US Team To Visit India For $4 Billion P-8I Naval Patrol Jet Deal As Trade Talks Warm Up

A US Defence Department delegation and Boeing executives are expected in India next week to revive negotiations for six P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, a deal estimated at $4 billion, The Economic Times reported, citing Bloomberg.

The procurement, cleared in 2019 but stalled since, is part of New Delhi’s effort to bolster surveillance across the Indian Ocean and reduce dependence on Russian defence supplies.

India already operates 12 P-8Is, eight bought in 2009 for $2.2 billion and four more a decade later, based in Tamil Nadu for missions over key sea lanes.

The talks come as Washington and New Delhi attempt to restart trade discussions that “hit rock bottom” last month.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday (9 September) he would speak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming weeks, signalling a thaw after tariff disputes and US concerns over India’s purchases of Russian oil.

Trump had imposed 50 per cent duties on some Indian exports, saying half the penalty was tied to those imports helping fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Despite friction over tariffs, defence cooperation has grown. India, the world’s second-largest arms importer, sourced only 36 per cent of its weapons from Russia last year, down from 76 per cent in 2009, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Since 2018, contracts worth nearly $20 billion have been signed with US suppliers, including a $3-billion deal last October for 31 long-range drones from General Atomics.

Officials said the upcoming visit underscores that both sides remain engaged on strategic and trade issues, with the aircraft purchase also seen as helping narrow America’s trade deficit with India.

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