India And US Seek To Strengthen Defence Industrial Cooperation

India and the US talked for a long time on Wednesday, more than a month before Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes to Washington. They focused on making their “Major Defense Partnership” work and co-developing military systems. The 17th meeting of the India-US Defense Policy Group (DPG) was held in Washington. Its main goals were to improve cooperation between defense industries, share important technologies, and do long-term study together.

At the 17th meeting of the India-US DPG, which took place in Washington, the two countries talked about how to make the “Major Defense Partnership” work and how to improve the security of the supply chain.

“The two sides talked about how far they’ve come in working together in the defense industry and making the India-US major defense partnership work,” the defense ministry said.

In June 2016, the US named India a “Major Defense Partner.” This made it possible for India and the US to share important military equipment and information.

Giridhar Aramane, who is the Defense Secretary, and Colin Kahl, who is the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, both led the DPG meeting.

In a statement, the ministry said that the talks were “friendly and helpful.”

“Important things like military-to-military cooperation, the implementation of foundational defense agreements, exercises, and ongoing and planned cooperative activities in the Indian Ocean Region were talked about,” it said.

The ministry said that a lot of attention was paid to ways to improve teamwork in the defense industry, such as through technology partnerships, long-term research and development, and better supply chain security.

“The meeting also talked about promoting co-development and co-production in India, including possible areas and projects where Indian and US defense companies could work together,” it said.

It said that the two sides agreed to encourage both private and government stakeholders to use the innovation ecosystems and boost defense start-ups.

The DPG is the most important way for India’s defense minister and the US department of defense to talk with each other. It looks at and leads all parts of defense cooperation between the two countries, with a focus on policy.

Defense ties between India and the US have been getting better over the past few years.

Over the past few years, the two countries have signed important defense and security agreements. In 2016, they signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), which lets their armies use each other’s bases to fix things and get more supplies.

The two countries also signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018. This agreement allows the two armies to work together and allows the US to sell India high-end technology.

India and the US signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in October 2020 to improve their defense links.

The pact says that the two countries can share high-tech military equipment, supplies, and maps of the area.