NEW DELHI — India is well on its way to creating a minimum credible nuclear deterrent, a senior defense official says. “There is a huge amount of work going on toward creating a credible minimal deterrence to ensure our adversaries don’t take us by surprise. We are way up and ahead of what we need to do in protecting the country,” says Air Vice Marshal K.J. Mathews, commander-in-chief of Strategic Forces Command.

GoAir, one of India’s low-cost airlines, has placed a $7.2 billion order with Airbus for 72 A320NEO (new engine option) aircraft as part of its expansion plans to meet the demands of the country’s booming travel sector. “These are all firm orders and the deliveries will start in 2015. The new aircraft will join the fleet over the next five to seven years,” says GoAir Managing Director Jeh Wadia. The airline will add about 12 to 15 aircraft every year from 2015. The formal acquisition agreement will be signed during this week’s Paris air show.

Turkish companies are showing keen interest in tapping into the latent demand for air, ground and cargo services in India, where the aviation sector is looking at investing $30 billion in the next 15 years to meet growing traffic demands.