At a two-day meeting starting on Tuesday, India and the US will talk about ways to strengthen their strategic partnership. The summit is aimed at promoting innovation and cooperation in defense between the two countries.
The defense minister said that the INDUS-X summit in Delhi is a “significant milestone” in the way that the two countries work together.
The India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) was launched in June 2023 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US. The ministry said it has been a leader in fostering stronger defense innovation ties between the two countries.
It said, “Now, with the INDUS-X summit, important people from both countries will come together in New Delhi to look for and take advantage of new opportunities.”
The ministry said the meeting is meant to be a “pivotal” event that helps India and the US work together on strategic technology partnerships and defense industry cooperation.
It was said that the INDUS-X summit is a key moment for advancing defense innovation and teamwork. It will pave the way for future technological advances and strategic partnerships, and it will also boost science and technology networks between countries.
The two-day catalyst summit will have a wide range of events that are meant to encourage people to work together, come up with new ideas, and share their knowledge.
Officials say that the summit’s schedule is full of useful sessions that will help plan the “future trajectory” of defense ties between the US and India.
In a statement, the ministry said, “Defense innovation stakeholders from across governments, academic and research organizations, investors, defense start-ups, technology incubators, industry associations, and other start-up enablers will come together to generate ambitious plans to move INDUS-X forward.”
Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) in India and the US Department of Defense are putting together the meeting with help from the US-India Business Council and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).
In the past few years, defense and military ties between India and the US have been getting stronger.
In the past few years, the two countries have signed a number of important defense and security agreements. For example, in 2016, they signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), which lets their armies use each other’s bases to repair equipment and restock supplies.
The two countries also signed the COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018. This allows the two armies to work together and also lets the US sell high-tech items to India.
India and the US signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in October 2020. This agreement will strengthen defense ties between the two countries even more. The pact lets the two countries share advanced defense technology, transport plans, and maps of the earth’s surface.