India agrees $560m US artillery deal

India has agreed a $560-million deal to buy 145 howitzer guns from BAE Systems of the United States as it upgrades its antiquated military hardware, an official said yesterday.
India is updating its military capabilities with hardware worth tens of billions of dollars in the face of long-standing tensions with regional rivals China and Pakistan.
The government will spend 30 billion rupees ($560 million) on the field guns, the official said.
The howitzers, with a maximum range of 30 kilometres, will be used by the army's mountain artillery divisions along India's high-altitude frontiers.
India has fought three wars with arch-rival Pakistan since independence in 1947, but China is increasingly seen as the main focus of its ambitious military modernisation and procurement policy.