February 19, 2008 -- When India went shopping for military transport planes and helicopters last month, the South Asian nation, which once bought most of its arms from Russia, placed the order with Lockheed Martin instead.

The $2 billion deal with Bethesda-based Lockheed is the latest product of an Indian-U.S. relationship that moved from chilly co-existence to the closest rapport since India achieved independence in 1947.

Annual trade has tripled since 2000, to more than $41 billion last year. As Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to visit New Delhi next week, Lockheed or Boeing may add to that trade as they compete for a $10 billion contract to sell 126 fighter jets. The two nations are working to counter terrorism and limit nuclear proliferation, and the United States has become the destination of choice for Indians studying abroad.

"This is an across-the-board improvement in relations that began under President Clinton and has been continued by President Bush," said Karl Inderfurth, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs.

The United States is deepening its involvement with India, which has the world's fastest-growing major economy after China, as its relations with its traditional partner in the region, Pakistan, have become unsettled. The United States is pressing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to strike harder at radical fighters and to restore democratic rule.

India's purchase of warplanes and an unfinished U.S.-India nuclear-power agreement are likely to be prominent on Gates's agenda during a visit that will "reinforce the growing strength of our relationship, especially on the defense side," Inderfurth said.

Indian parties that oppose closer U.S. ties are resisting a nuclear accord. They also are fighting approval of a logistical-support agreement that would allow the two nations' militaries to use each other's refueling and basing facilities for naval vessels and aircraft.

The United States and India have held or scheduled several joint military exercises, and arms sales are rising. In addition to the deal for transport planes and helicopters, which was announced Jan. 29, India last year bought the transport vessel USS Trenton for $48.4 million and renamed it INS Jalashva.

This cooperation would jump substantially if Lockheed and its F-16 or Boeing and its F-18 beat out four non-U.S. bidders in the competition to supply fighter jets. The American companies have increasingly been looking overseas for growth opportunities.

It would also put the United States in the position of providing sophisticated arms to both sides of a bitter divide in South Asia. Lockheed has won a $498 million order to supply F-16 fighters to Pakistan.

While Gates is likely to discuss the potential sale, he won't be "heavy-handed" in doing so, said former defense secretary William Cohen, whose Washington-based consulting firm, the Cohen Group, does work for Lockheed.

"Any time a secretary goes, all you do is say, 'We understand you've got a major purchase coming up here; we think we're quite competitive,'" Cohen said. "What you do is put the imprimatur of the United States on it."

In addition to the hard numbers of military and software sales, the warmer relationship is reflected in less tangible things, such as cultural and educational ties.

More Indian college students going abroad head for the United States than any other country, according to the New York-based Institute of International Education, a nonprofit organization that promotes educational exchanges.

Last year, 83,833 Indians studied in the United States. Britain, once favored because of links dating from the colonial era, was 11th, with 8,438.

Source: The Washington Post