NEW DELHI — Russia’s Rosoboronexport has proposed starting licensed production of its Ka-226T helicopter in India if it wins the contract to supply 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters to the country’s military. “We are increasing exports both by deepening the relationship with traditional partners and expanding the geography of sales,” says Grigory Kozlov, head of helicopter exports at Rosoboronexport. “In particular, in India, where we are bidding the Ka-226T.

NEW DELHI — The Indian navy received the first of eight Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft on May 15. “The induction of the P-8I aircraft into the navy will greatly enhance India’s maritime surveillance capability in the Indian Ocean region,” an Indian navy spokesman said after the aircraft, a variant of the U.S. Navy’s P-8A Poseidon, landed at INS Rajali, a naval base at Arakonam near the southern city of Chennai.

India has approved a wide-ranging policy to create international and regional aviation hubs to encourage the development of local airlines and airports. With the policy, an inter-ministerial committee will be established to suggest measures to “remove bottlenecks to the coordination and promotion of the tourism sector, like issuing visas on arrival, currency exchange rules, immigration, and security checks,” says government Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari.