today

India has officially taken delivery of an Awacs early-warning surveillance aircraft. The plane, Russian-made but packed with Israeli radar, is expected to reinforce India's maritime security following the attacks on Mumbai last year.

India has ordered another two AWACS as it upgrades its military capabilities.

The Ilyushin-76 - which arrived in India on Monday - gives India the capability to track hundreds of aircraft and potential threats at sea and on the ground, at considerable distances. India is the first country in South Asia to own an Awacs (Airborne Warning and Control System) plane, popularly nicknamed the "eye in the sky". The second and third aircraft are expected to be handed over next year.

IMO: Only 6 other nations (US, Russia, Britain, Japan, Australia and Turkey) have a fully sophisticated AWACS system and it is very expensive but we certainly need it, especially after the recent Mumbai and other attacks. People do not want to arrive at somewhere like the Gateway of India and then be attacked by mindless Pakistani thugs. That is not a complaint about Pakistan as such, and we can only hope that the US can tidy up Pak so it may eventually be admitted to the India Free Trade Area, a source of benefit to all. Pak may then even be helped to open its own SEZs. But that will take Pak some time yet.