FRENCH SUBS DEAL: No time to waste.

Now that the government have decided in favour of acquiring the Scorpene submarines from France there ought to be a certain urgency about completing the follow up action. Not because the Indian Navy is desperate to augment its submarine squadrons, not because some petty points are to be scored over the Scorpene being a more advanced vessel than the Agosta which the French sold to Pakistan. Not even because the tie-up is likely to facilitate the acquisition of a special class of missile (nuclear-tipped?) that could be fired through the torpedo-tubes of the four SSKs (submarine-submarine killers) that are already in service. The crucial factor is that the arrangement will lead to …