India has signed a $3 billion deal to lease a third Russian nuclear-powered submarine for 10 years, giving Delhi a boost in the Indian Ocean against arch-rivals Pakistan and China, media reports said. The deal — which according to the reports took months to negotiate — comes as tensions run high between India and Pakistan following their biggest standoff in years, and as Chinese influence grows in the region. A defence ministry spokesman declined to confirm the agreement to AFP but the reports said that the submarine, the third India has leased from Russia, would be delivered by 2025. But India also shares US fears about China’s growing assertiveness in the Indian Ocean, where New Delhi has traditionally held sway. In 2017 India and China had a military standoff over a Himalayan plateau claimed by both Beijing and Bhutan, a close ally of India.

Source: Egypt Independent March 08, 2019 07:07 UTC