NEW DELHI — India’s new right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has appointed seasoned politician and leading corporate lawyer Arun Jaitley as its joint finance and defense minister. Taking charge at the defense ministry on May 27, a few hours after assuming office at the finance ministry, Jaitley assures that “speeding up the [purchase of] equipment required for their support are going to be priority areas as far as our government is concerned.”

NEW DELHI — An Indian air force (IAF) MiG-21 fighter crashed May 27 in the Himalayan border state of Jammu and Kashmir, killing the pilot. The latest crash has once again highlighted India’s urgent need to replace its aging fleet of the Soviet-era fighters. The accident took place near Awantipur airbase in the south of the state, at 10:48 a.m. local time, while the single-seater MiG-21 Bison was on a routine training sortie after taking off from the Technical Airport in Srinagar city, a senior IAF official says.

NEW DELHI — India has taken delivery of the fourth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing, which has fulfilled the first half of a contract for eight of the type. The new aircraft has joined the other three P-8Is currently undergoing operational evaluation at the naval air station in Rajali, in southern India. Two more aircraft are expected to be delivered this year. “This marks an important milestone—the halfway point for P-8I deliveries to India,” says Dennis Swanson, Boeing Defense & Space vice president in India.