New Delhi: India and the United States on Monday, June 5, agreed upon an “ambitious new roadmap” for defence industrial cooperation, which will accord high priority to various projects for the co-development of military platforms and hardware, according to news agency PTI.
India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Lloyd Austin finalised the roadmap in New Delhi, two weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US on a state visit.
Austin explained the importance of the US-India cooperation, saying “because we all face a rapidly changing world. We see bullying and coercion from the People’s Republic of China and Russian aggression against Ukraine that seeks to redraw borders and threatens national sovereignty”.
Calling the US-India partnership a “cornerstone” for a free and open Indo-Pacific, he added that the deepening ties came to show how technological innovation and growing military cooperation between the two “great powers” can be a force for global good.
“We established an ambitious new roadmap for defence industrial cooperation with a fast-track (and) high-priority for co-development and co-production projects and to build closer ties between our defence industries,” Austin said during a press briefing.
“Democracies must now rally together in common interests and shared values. Preserving and protecting freedom are essential to peace and prosperity and require vigorous leadership from the US and India,” he added.
The PTI report also said that both sides discussed General Electric’s proposal to share technology with India for fighter jet engines and New Delhi’s plan to procure 30 MQ-9B armed drones for over USD 3 billion from US defence major General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
A statement issued by India’s defence ministry said both sides will identify opportunities for the co-development of new technologies and the co-production of existing and new systems besides facilitating increasing collaboration between defence start-up ecosystems of the two countries.
“Towards these objectives, they concluded a roadmap for US-India defence industrial cooperation which shall guide the policy direction for the next few years,” the statement added.
“India-US partnership is critical for ensuring a free, open and rules-bound Indo-Pacific region. We look forward to closely work with the US across the domains for capacity building and further consolidating our strategic partnership,” Singh said on Twitter about the meeting.
The US defence secretary arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, June 4, for a two-day tour. It is Austin’s second visit to India; he had visited India before in March 2021. Besides Singh, Austin also held talks with national security adviser, Ajit Doval, which he described as “productive”.