New draft on US, end user agreement likely soon

Issues relating to the end user agreement with the US, which governs the sale of the American military hardware to India, is expected to be resolved soon as New Delhi is set to propose a new draft soon.

Talking to mediapersons ahead of the Aero-India 2009, deputy chief of the US mission Steven J White, said "India is going to propose new draft for the end user agreement. My feeling is that we are very close."

India, which has recently purchased Business Boeing Jets to be used as the office in air for the Prime Minister, has been wary of signing the agreement as it required physical inspection of the product.

"India also wants a blanket understanding on the issue instead of matters being decided on case by case basis as it may cause a lot of delay," the US envoy said.

India is also keen to push through the agreement rather than deciding things on case-to-case basis to fasten the procurement procedures.