Rafale warplanes.

Byline: Fawad Hashmey - Lahore

THE first of the long-awaited 36 Rafale fighter jets ordered from France has been received by India which has spent a whopping $8.78 billion on this expensive deal signed in 2016.

The deal was not controversy-free, for the Indian National Congress, the main opposition party, denounced the ruling BJP government for buying these sophisticated aircraft at nearly three times the price it was negotiating in 2014 when in power.

More of these twin-engine delta-wing multi-role warplanes are scheduled to reach India by May 2020 and the order will be completed by 2022. One of the two squadrons will be stationed at Ambala in Indian Punjab, facing Pakistan and the other in West Bengal.

Of recent, the Modi government has been on a huge arms-buying spree including S-400 missile system from Russia, heavy-lift Chinook helicopters and...