U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on a visit to India discussed upgrading partnership with India and set a roadmap for cooperation for the next five years as both countries are engaged in finding ways to counter growing Chinese belligerence, officials said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in India on June 4 on a two-day visit to explore ways to further strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, especially in areas of transfer of critical technologies for co-development of military hardware.
Austin and his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, explored ways of building resilient supply chains, a statement from India’s Defense Ministry said. They decided “to identify opportunities for the co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing and new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defense startup ecosystems of the two countries.”
After the talks between the two, Rajnath Singh tweeted, “Our talks revolved around enhancing defence cooperation in several areas including convergence of strategic interests and enhanced security cooperation”.
They also discussed regional security issues and committed to strengthening operational collaboration across all military services, with an eye to supporting India’s leading role as a security provider in the Indo-Pacific, the statement said.
The new roadmap for U.S.-India defense industrial cooperation will fast track technology cooperation and co-production in areas such as air combat and land mobility systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, munitions and the undersea domain, said a U.S. Department of Defense press release, the AP reported.
“This initiative aims to change the paradigm for cooperation between U.S. and Indian defense sectors, including a set of specific proposals that could provide India access to cutting-edge technologies and support India’s defense modernization plans,” it said.
Secretary Austin’s trip comes over two weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington during which the two sides are expected to unveil initiatives to expand the India-US global strategic partnership. Austin came to India to explore ways to further strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, especially in areas of transfer of critical technologies for co-development of military hardware.
During PM Modi’s state visit to Washington the two sides are expected to unveil initiatives to expand the India-US global strategic partnership.
Austin’s visit comes as India strengthens its domestic defense industry by acquiring new technologies and reducing reliance on imports. India has embarked on major indigenous defense upgradation and is keen to enter into contracts where exporting nations are ready to share technology with Delhi.
See Also: https://indiadiplomacy.in/us-india-ties-towards-a-giant-leap/
