With India declaring its intention to buy close to 170 fighter jets for the IAF and Navy, it’s natural for global aviation majors to make a beeline for India’s biennial air show at Bengaluru. They did so in 2007 and 2011. The fact that not many foreign fighters will take off from Yelahanka this time is probably an indication of how political slug-fest ruined India’s fighter procurement process, at least in the immediate future.
To a certain extent, the Defence Ministry and Air Headquarters are themselves to be blamed to create the procurement mess in the first place over the last two decades. It began in 2000 when the Indian Air Force initiated a plan to buy 126 fighters in the wake of the Kargil episode.
