US approves sale of drones and missiles worth $4bn to India for countering Indo-Pacific threats

State Department’s approval means India has cleared one stumbling block but deal still needs to be confirmed by Congress

The US State Department approved the sale of drones and missiles to India in a potential deal worth nearly $4bn (£3.14bn) for the south Asian nation’s maritime safety and surveillance amid concerns of growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.

The deal for 31 Sky Guardian drones and 170 Hellfire missiles among other arms was announced during Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s historic state visit to the White House in 2023.

The State Department’s approval means India has cleared one stumbling block but the deal still needs to be confirmed by the Congress.

It comes after the major defence deal was put on hold by a US Senate committee over pending investigation into an Indian government agent’s involvement in an assassination plot on US soil.

Washington has been courting Delhi to bolster cooperation with the US Indo-Pacific strategy, primarily aimed at mitigating China’s influence in the region.

“The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India of MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.99bn,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Thursday night.

The US State Department said in a statement that the deal will support America’s foreign policy and national security interests by helping India in improving “political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region”.

President Joe Biden speaks as he offers a toast during a State Dinner for India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington in June 2023 (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

It "will improve India‘s capability to meet current and future threats by enabling unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in sea lanes of operation", it said.

The deal will include the sale of 31 MQ-9B SkyGuardian, 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and 130 Laser Small Diameter Bomb, 161 Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs) among other communications and surveillance equipment.

Reacting to the media reports of a blockade on the deal amid investigations over an assassination plot, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday said Congress played an “important role in the US arms transfer process”.

“We routinely consult with members of Congress on the foreign affairs committees before our formal notification so we can address questions that they might have, but I don’t have any comment on when that formal notification might take place,” he said.

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The federal prosecutors in the Justice Department had accused Indian government agents of orchestrating a plot to assassinate American Sikh citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a designated terrorist in India, for advocating for the independent Sikh state of Khalistan.

The Indian government said it takes the allegations by Washington “seriously” and formed a high-level investigative committee. “This is also contrary to government policy,” the Indian foreign ministry said.

According to Reuters, senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had ended his "hold" on the agreement now that president Joe Biden’s administration had agreed to fully investigate an Indian assassination plot on US soil.

"The (Biden) administration has demanded that there be investigation and accountability in regards to the plot here in the United States, and that there is accountability within India against these types of activities," Mr Cardin told reporters.