India, Japan Solve Aircraft Price Issue

India and Japan are all set to strike the first-ever defence deal, as the two countries have resolved US-2 aircraft price issue.

In 2014, India decided to acquire 12 US-2 amphibious aircraft for its Navy from Japan. However, talks between senior officials of the two countries suffered a blow as the Japanese manufacturer, ShinMaywa, refused to lower the quoted price of USD 133 million per aircraft. After two years of tough negotiations, New Delhi and Tokyo have announced that they resolved the issue and the Indian Navy will soon receive all the 12 aircraft.

A top Indian Defence Ministry official confirmed the news over the weekend, saying: "Japan has offered a price concession of more than 10% per aircraft from USD 133 million per aircraft to around USD 113 million. The USD 1.35 billion government-to-government deal for US-2 aircraft is now ready for finalisation." The...