US aims to boost trade with India

While the U.S. continues pursuing a free trade agreement with India, stronger political and economic relations between the two countries have been demonstrated through the recently proposed export of U.S.-made air defense weapons systems to the Indian military. In a recent letter to Congress, the U.S. Department of Defense valued the proposed weapons sale to India at $1.867 billion. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the U.S.-Indian strategic relationship and improve the security of a major defensive partner, which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region,” the Defense Department said in a Federal Register notice published today.