India, Feb. 14 -- The Mikoyan Gurevich 29 fighter jet was an example of brilliant 1970's technology; it was a fighter that was capable of extreme aerobatics and was highly effective as a weapon in its time. Actually, even when India began to induct the planes in the late1980s, it was still a modern fighter. But as the wrangling over the acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafale jets continues, India finds itself in a position where it does not have enough fighters to protect its airspace or the capacity to develop and build its own warplanes. And on this front, successive governments should take the blame than passing the buck.

Russia's offer of 21 MiG-29 aircraft built anew on unused old airframes is a way for the Putin government to dispose of...