India-US move towards next generation defence partnership

Washington DC: India and the US have moved towards the next generation defense partnership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and American President Joe Biden expressed their desire to accelerate defense industrial cooperation during the summit talks. They welcomed the adoption of a Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap and hoped that the roadmap will provide policy direction to defense industries and enable co-production of advanced defense systems and collaborative research, testing and prototyping of projects.

Both the leaders said that the two countries are committed to addressing any regulatory barriers to defense industrial cooperation. They also underscored the decision of India's Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense to commence negotiations for concluding a Security of Supply arrangement and initiate discussions about Reciprocal Defense Procurement agreement, augurs well for furthering defence cooperation.

PM Modi and President Biden also appreciated the landmark signing of an MoU between General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the manufacture of GE F-414 jet engines in India and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Light Combat Aircraft Mk 2.

Addressing the joint sitting of the US Congress, the prime Minister said,  "the United States has become one of our most important defence partners. Today, India and the US are working together in space and in the seas, in science and in semiconductors, in startups and sustainability, in tech and in trade, in farming and finance, in art and Artificial Intelligence."

The India-U.S Defense Partnership has emerged as a pillar of global peace and security. Through joint exercises, strengthening of defense industrial cooperation, the annual "2+2" Ministerial Dialogue, and other consultative mechanisms, both countries have made substantial progress in building an advanced and comprehensive defense partnership in which their militaries coordinate closely across all domains.

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