NEW DELHI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared acquisition of four surveillance and antisubmarine warfare aircraft from the United States, in a clear sign of tighter India-U.S. strategic ties, local media reported Saturday.
The Times of India online quoted Defense Ministry sources here as saying Friday the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Modi, had cleared the acquisition of four Poseidon-8I long-range surveillance and antisubmarine warfare aircraft at a cost of over 1 billion U.S. dollars.
"The contract will be inked with Boeing in the next few days. The first P-8I will be delivered to the Navy within three years," the report quoted an unnamed source as saying.
The four new P-8I aircraft, packed with radars and weapons, will join the first eight such aircraft inducted by the Indian navy in 2013-2015 under a 2.1-billion-U.S. dollar deal, said the report.
The Navy is using the eight P-8Is, armed with deadly Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, rockets and depth charges, to keep an "intelligent hawk-eye" over the entire Indian Ocean Region, said the report.
The U.S. arms sales to India have been increasing steadily over the past decade.
