INDIA BECOMES 3RD BIGGEST US ARMS PURCHASER

                       Just years after US resumed weapons sales to New Delhi, India has jumped to become the third biggest arms purchaser from America, logging contracts worth over USD 4.5 Billion in 2010. The US firms bagged India’s biggest deal ever for fighter jets, New Delhi would have been on the top spot of American Arms Sales worldwide, according to a report from the Pentagon.

                   Even though the US firms lost the bid for an estimated USD 10 Billion contract for sale of 126 jets to Indian Air Force (IAF), India was listed as the third largest purchaser of US arms through the government to government channel Foreign Military Sales (FMS) by the Defence Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA), the Pentagon agency that overlooks such crucial deals.

                    Afghan Security Forces (ASF) has topped the list with the contract of USD 5.4 Billion, followed Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), which is on the 2^nd spot with the contract of USD 4.9 Billion.

                     Australia occupies the 4^th spot, followed by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, The UAE, Israel, Japan and Sweden.