India is to bolster its navy with the purchase of six Franco-Spanish submarines in a deal worth $1.8bn (£985m, 1.4bn euros). The announcement came as India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met France's President Jacques Chirac in Paris. India plans to build six diesel-powered Scorpene SSK-class submarines at a naval dockyard in Mumbai (Bombay). The deal is the latest in a series of military purchases by New Delhi aimed at modernising India's armed forces. India is currently the developing world's leading buyer of military equipment, according to a report for the US Congress. New Delhi spent $5.7bn on arms last year, taking it past China and Saudi Arabia, the Congressional Research Service said in August.
President Chirac welcomed the deal, describing it as "a measure of the friendship, trust and cooperation" between India and France. The submarine deal follows the announcement last week of India Airlines' plan to buy 43 Airbus passenger jets in a deal worth $2.2bn. Speaking at the time, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the purchase was a "welcome sign" of developing relations between India and the European Union. And in totally unrelated news: | France supports India's bid for permanent seat in UNSC
Paris: France today came out strongly in support of India's bid for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council, saying its aspiration was "legitimate" and hoped it would be realised. Welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Elysee Palace here, President Jacques Chirac also expressed his determination to move forward for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.
Emphasising that for France, India was a "major buyer of French arms partner" of the world today, he said "and this is the reason why France has always supported India's positions, in particular her legitimate aspiration for a seat at the UN Security Council as a permanent member" as long as the checks keep coming.
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