New Delhi: In ‘India’s fighter jet battle: US v Russia in the skies,’ the BBC reports on a Cold War-era choice facing India while modernising its air force: Should it buy American or Russian stealth fighter jets?
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House last month, US President Donald Trump announced that he was “paving the way” for India to acquire the cutting edge F-35s—one of the most sophisticated but also the most expensive jets in the skies. The other option is the local production of Russia’s advanced stealth fighter, the Sukhoi Su-57.
Experts tell BBC that the answer is not that simple.
Integrating the fifth-generation F-35 into the Indian Air Force, which already has the French Rafales, will be challenging, especially without co-production rights. “The question is whether India is willing to invest billions of rupees in the F-35, knowing it could do better buying the Russian jet,” writes Soutik Biswas. At the same time, many dismiss the Su-57 as a real contender since India exited a programme to co-produce the jet with Russia in 2018.
“To be sure, India’s air force is ageing and short on fighter jets,” the BBC reports. “It operates 31 fighter and combat squadrons—mostly Russian and Soviet-era aircraft—far below the sanctioned 42.”
Besides, India has homegrown plans to expand its fighter jets. Orders for Tejas Mark 1A are confirmed, while the more advanced Mark 2 is in development.
“Experts say India’s air force modernisation faces three key hurdles: funding, delays and dependence on foreign jets,” the BBC reports. “Defence spending has shrunk in real terms. The foreign fighter jets programme risks a drawn-out fate. While India prioritises home-made, DRDO’s delays force stopgap foreign purchases, creating a repeating cycle. Breaking it requires delivering a capable homegrown jet on time.”
Even the Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, has expressed his frustration over the delays. The long game is clear: to build its own, but in the meantime, the air force will have to fill the void.
“Most experts believe India will choose neither the American nor Russian fighters,” the BBC reports. “For India, the future of airpower isn’t just about buying jets—it’s about building them, ideally with a strong Western partner. But for that vision to succeed, India must deliver its homegrown fighters on time.”
Meanwhile, according to a new report by The Lancet journal, India, China, and the US will have the world’s largest populations of adults living with obesity by 2050—a development that highlights a global public health crisis and the potential for huge economic losses.
Bloomberg reports in ‘China, India Obesity Problems Driving Global Surge, Study Says,’ that unless there’s drastic intervention, 3.8 billion adults over the age of 25 will be overweight and obese by 2050.
Besides the obvious repercussions on health, it also has “staggering” economic ramifications, Amber Tong reports for Bloomberg. It could lead to a 2.9 percent reduction in global GDP—a loss of $4 trillion.
“Around 627 million Chinese adults are projected to be overweight or obese by 2050, followed by 450 million in India, and 214 million in the US,” Bloomberg reports.
Another BBC report looks at the first real casualty of the USAID cuts in India: the country’s first clinic for transgender people.
“India’s first medical clinic for transgender people has shut operations in three cities after US President Donald Trump stopped foreign aid to it,” the BBC reports in ‘USAID cuts shutter India’s first clinic for transgender people.’
The Mitr clinics, which started in 2021, offer HIV treatments, support, and counselling services to thousands of people. The shutdowns in Hyderabad, Thane, and Pune impact the transgender community’s access to crucial medical support.
“The project came into existence under the US President’s agency for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003 when George Bush was president. John Hopkins University worked in collaboration with USAID and the Indian government to set it up,” Imran Qureshi and Cherylann Mollan report for the BBC.
The three centers reportedly catered to 6,000 people, with about 6-8 percent being treated for HIV. Most of the cases were of young people accessing healthcare services for the first time. In Hyderabad, Mitr clinics offered care to 150-200 transgender people a month, many of whom were HIV positive.
“The news of the clinic’s closure has come as a blow to the community,” the BBC reports.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
It is time to examine the R&D contributions of top twenty Business Houses like Tata, Birla, Jindals, Adani, Reliance etc. There appears to be very little technology and product development by private sector industries in India during last few decades. Another related issue is how much royalty is paid to government R&D organisations like CSIR, DRDO etc. for technology transfer and engineering support to private and public sector industries. Fair and justified amounts of royalty payments can boost activities related to research and technology development. Authorities must look into this issue.