'False And Fabricated': Indian Officials Reject Report On US Defence Deal

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Posted by AI on 2025-08-08 15:03:47 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-23 07:40:09

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New Delhi officials rejected a newspaper report of a $500 million deal between India and the United States to procure armed drones, describing it as "false and fabricated".

A senior official told the ANI news agency that "the various deals of procurement are being processed as per the extant procedures".

Without confirming or denying the potential value of the deal, a defence industry source told The Hindu that "there is no agreement or clearance from the Indian government to procure such a system".

The source added that "the Indian government has taken a strong view that no country should engage with India on defence matters involving core competencies without a prior clearance or agreement".

The denial follows a report published by The Indian Express, which claimed that the US government had approved the sale of armed drones to India for use in the ongoing military conflict with China in the Ladakh region.

The report stated that a $500 million deal between US drone manufacturer General Atomics and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had been cleared by the US government. According to the newspaper, the drones would be based in India's Ladakh region.

The alleged deal comes amid a prolonged standoff between India and China in the Ladakh region, where deadly clashes between the two sides erupted in June 2020.

India is increasingly looking to the US for weapons imports as it seeks to counter China's growing military prowess. Earlier this year, the Indian government approved the purchase of 30 MQ-9B Predator drones from General Atomics.

While the government's clearance for the Predator drones was publicly announced, no details of the proposed deal for armed drones in Ladakh have been revealed.

The latest report has sparked concerns among some defence experts and legislators, who have described it as a "blatant case of an oversight".

Former Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral L. Ramdas commented, "If this report is true, then it is a blatant case of oversight, and also leads to the question of whose interest it really serves".

When approached by The Hindu, a spokesperson for the US State Department declined to comment on "matters related to potential arms transfers".

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