On Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:01:17 -0800, Rob Arndt
wrote:

Easiest answer is whatever meets India's needs in the region and not
what Russia, Europe, or the US think they need...

It won't be a US plane. The F-16s and F-18s are somewhat dated
designs that carry a high purchase cost and bring with them too much
political baggage. Should India not meet US expectations in certain
US geopolitical goals delivery and support is held up.


With 1.1 billion people, maybe they should emulate China and think
indigenous design, with a little help from their allies


From an interview with Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew

This is the most important insight.

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/articl...parentid=79541

Q: On India, there's been a lot of hype in America, in foreign affairs
publications and so on, about India becoming the next superpower. I
was in New Delhi about three months ago -- it seems to me India's got
a long way to go.

Lee: They are a different mix, never mind their political structures.
They are not one people. You can make a speech in Delhi; [Prime
Minister] Manmohan Singh can speak in Hindi and 30, 40 percent of the
country can understand him. He makes a speech in English and maybe 30
percent of the elite understand him.

In China, when a leader speaks, 90 percent will understand him. They
all speak one language, they are one people. In India, they have got
32 official languages and in fact, 300-plus different languages. You
look at Europe, 25 languages, 27 countries, how do you? The European
Parliament? Had we not moved into one language here in Singapore, we
would not have been able to govern this country.