Once again, the Indian defense sector is raising global expectations. Once again, India is beginning to be courted as a lucrative market for defense supplies. Once again, global vendors and foreign leaders are vying with each other to get the first-mover advantage.
But there have been so many false starts in the past that it would need some serious effort on the part of the Modi government to convince external interlocutors that, this time, it won't be a damp squib as in the past.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his defense minister, Arun Jaitley, have underlined the urgent need to reform India's defense procurement policy. Jaitley, has been charged with two important portfolios — finance and defense — underscoring the recognition by the highest echelons of the Modi government that, unlike in the previous two decades, India will have limited resources to spend on defense.