India's defence spending this year will be 1.8 per cent of GDP, the lowest since the 1962 war with China. Much of the initial comment in the Indian media on the shortlisting of two of the six contenders for a Rs 42,000-crore fighter aircraft has focused (predictably, perhaps) on the elimination of the two American contenders. The US ambassador has made some gratuitous comments: he is “respectful” of the selection process which, he has been assured at the highest level of the government, is “fair and transparent” (so what did he expect?).