India is quietly moving to lock itself into the global 6th‑generation fighter race, even as it struggles to perfect its own AMCA stealth jet and the long‑troubled Kaveri engine. New Delhi is now in active talks with France and Europe about joining one of the two major 6th‑gen combat‑air programmes—the Franco‑German‑Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) and the GCAP - Global Combat Air Programme led by Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Such a partnership would give India