The Indians' welcome to Obama is no less enthusiastic than the Pakistanis' welcome to Li Lan.

It is not difficult to conclude from a simple report by the media that the two sides did not reach a consensus when Li Lan arrived in India, and instead Li Lan visited Pakistan, India could only focus on the United States.

As a country in the Indian Ocean, India is really as blind to Somalia's growing appearance of dominance over the Indian Ocean.

This is naturally impossible, India has regarded the Indian Ocean as the Indian Ocean not for a day or two, but for more than half a century, as the first country in Asia to have an aircraft carrier after World War II and use the aircraft carrier for actual combat, the navy has always been the pride of the Indians.

Now this pride has disappeared under the power of Somalia, the domestic aircraft carrier can almost be said to be stillborn, and the aircraft carrier that relies on the purchase is not used at all, the good things are too expensive, and there is no cheap to take advantage of in the world.

Seeing that the Somali aircraft carriers are more advanced than the other, and even the 40,000-ton amphibious assault ships have begun to be equipped in batches, now the Indians are somewhat unable to even hold their own most powerful Vikramaditya.

The country's most powerful aircraft carrier, which is about the same tonnage as other people's amphibious assault ships, how can this image contrast give the Indian Navy a chance to raise its head.

On the other hand, Russia itself does not have a powerful aircraft carrier, and the only aircraft carrier is far inferior to Somalia's conventionally powered aircraft carriers, and only the Americans in the world can compete with Somalia in naval technology.

The Indians have no choice this time, and the weapons they want to buy are no longer a competitive bid. At present, the only countries in the world that have built aircraft carriers of more than 80,000 tons are the United States and Somalia. Russian aircraft carriers still need to rely on the help of the Somalis, and it is even more unlikely that they will help India. So a qiē is self-evident.

Obama's trip also stepped on this point, he knew very well that Li Lan did not get anything in India at the beginning, and the Indians did not get anything in Somalia, and he was already very sure to take India.

However, in order to increase the success rate, Obama specially stepped on the time of Li Lan's visit to Pakistan to visit India, so that the Indians themselves could feel the sense of tension approaching around them, and as for Li Lan's itinerary, like every head of state's foreign visit, it was made public.

Obviously. Obama's decision was right, the Indians welcomed his arrival very much, and the prime minister personally went to the airport to greet him, which was the first time he had received such treatment in India, which shows that the Indians have made a fundamental change in their policy toward the United States. You know, in India, the president is more of a symbol, and the prime minister is the one who really holds the power of the country. The Prime Minister personally picks up the airport at the airport, and this kind of treatment can be said to be one of the few in the handful.

After a series of activities. Obama also had an official conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Prime Minister's Side.

Aside from the recording staff, no outsiders were involved in the meeting.

At the beginning of the formal talks, after a brief greeting and pleasantries, Obama went straight to the point. "The two aircraft carriers, the parliament has passed a final resolution in Guò, which will unconditionally give the decommissioned aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk and Constellation to India. If the Indian side feels that it still needs it, it can also sell the mothballed Kennedy to India at half price. ”

This time Obama brought in enough leverage. One more than when I first came. And will also promise a third aircraft carrier at half price, a benefit he believes that the Indians will have difficulty refusing.

However, to Obama's disappointment, Modi's attitude did not show much joy, but asked very dryly: "What does India need to pay?" ”

Obama, who already had a draft on this question, replied without thinking about it: "The aircraft carrier we gave to India is only one aircraft carrier itself, and India needs to buy other supporting things from the United States, but I promise that the price of the fighter will be some lower than under normal circumstances." In terms of aircraft carrier refitting, India can send people to the United States to participate. The main thing is that as long as the Indians need it, both aircraft carriers can be renovated within a year, and they can directly join the Indian Navy. ”

"The two aircraft carriers, Kitty Hawk and Constellation, are conventionally powered aircraft carriers after all, but what about carrier-based aircraft?" Modi continued.

Obama patiently explained: "You can rest assured that the performance of the F-18 Hornet carrier-based aircraft is believed to be obvious to the whole world, even in the face of Somali carrier-based aircraft, the performance of the Hornet is not bad." As for the price, in the spirit of deepening the friendship between the two countries, the price will not be more expensive than the Rafale fighter purchased by India. And we can even help India build a hardware production line and fighter assembly line for Hornet parts on its own soil. ”

Rafale fighter, that is the pain in the hearts of Indians, Modi heard Obama mention this matter, his heart was quite helpless, when India made a huge fighter tender, French Rafale successfully won the order, but who knows, this order has gone extremely rugged now.

"Let's give me a specific number! If India has these two aircraft carriers, and how much money and time will it cost after the formation of combat effectiveness? Modi said.

When Obama heard this, he was overjoyed, compared with the last direct refusal, Modi's attitude has been reversed this time. He immediately put away his other thoughts and said a calculated figure in his mind: "According to the number of aircraft carried by the two aircraft carriers and the necessary reserve carrier-based aircraft and training aircraft, almost 180 carrier-based aircraft are needed, and the total value of early warning aircraft and electronic warfare aircraft is about 12 billion US dollars.

The cost of aircraft carrier modification needs to be calculated according to India's needs, and my construction is that these two aircraft carriers do not need to be equipped with new electronic equipment and systems, so the price will be much cheaper, and we will upgrade the above electronic systems to adapt to the new battlefield environment, and India only needs to pay a certain amount of upgrade costs.

At present, the maintenance of the two ships is very good, and a simple transformation can form combat effectiveness, and the cost of upgrading and refitting only needs about one billion dollars. If you count the training costs, on the whole, the Indian side will need to spend about 15 billion yuan to have these two aircraft carriers. ”

If it is really 15 billion US dollars, it can have two aircraft carriers that can be directly used for combat, and now India is completely acceptable, you must know that one Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, counting carrier-based aircraft and other systems, directly costs more than 6 billion US dollars.

However, there are two more aircraft carriers at once, which is still a big burden for India, Modi did not readily agree as Obama imagined, but hesitated and said: "There is no problem in terms of price, but I hope that at least one of these two aircraft carriers can be modified in India, and part of the purchase of carrier-based aircraft will also be produced in India." ”

Modi did not negotiate the price, he knew very well that the price offered by the Americans was already a very favorable price, and it was better to expand the interests of other parties than to talk about the price.

For Modi's answer, Obama also expected it a long time ago, and said: "I'm very sorry, it's not that we don't want to, according to India's industrial capacity, it is really impossible to complete the transformation of the aircraft carrier, and we can still find a way to produce carrier-based aircraft, but the aircraft carrier transformation work needs to meet very strict conditions......

Obama said very politely, even when the French Dassault company visited India, he was extremely disappointed with India's aviation industry, India's very fast industry, there is no way to produce Rafale fighters that maintain quality, and the Indians demand that the quality of fighters be guaranteed, which is why the price of Rafale fighters exported to India has soared, and it is completely because the Indian industry cannot meet the production needs of fighters.

As for aircraft carriers, it is even more a manifestation of the industrial strength of a country, India's own domestic aircraft carriers have been built for so many years, and the result is not rust in the dock. It was only an aircraft carrier of more than 40,000 tons, not to mention the more complex Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier.

It can be seen that if the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier is really sent to India for refit, the only result will be the destruction of the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier.

Modi doesn't understand his country's capabilities, and the reason why he said this is to lead to Obama's words, "Somalia and Pakistan have just reached a cooperation agreement on building an industrial base, after all, India also wants to develop its own aircraft carriers in the future, and if we really want to accept these two aircraft carriers, then we also hope that we can repair these two aircraft carriers ourselves." ”

When Obama heard this, his face remained unchanged and he said: "You mean, let's help India improve its shipbuilding industry?" ”

"Not only the shipbuilding industry, but also the aviation industry wants to be perfected." Modi said.

"But you have to know that industry is not something that can be completed overnight, not only does it take sweat, but it also has to pay enough money. The main reason why Somalia is improving Pakistan's shipbuilding industry this time is that Pakistan is willing to pay a huge amount of money. Obama said.

"What if we were willing to pay the same amount of money?" Modi heard another meaning in Obama's words and immediately asked.

"The United States very much wants to deepen its friendship with India and cooperate in the international field and in the form of regional security, and India and the United States should become friends. Obama smiled in his heart, that was the purpose of his trip.

If it was before the rise of Somalia, he would not have been able to agree to the Indians' request so simply, after all, India, which has its own technology, would not continue to buy weapons from abroad. But now, it is no longer the time to consider those meager interests, and if India can really walk with the United States, the United States also wants to see a strong India. (To be continued......)