The deal comes weeks before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit Washington for an official state visit and talks with US President Joe Biden.
India and the United States have finalized a roadmap for defense industry cooperation for the coming years, the Indian government says, a move that is expected to bolster New Delhi’s defense manufacturing ambitions.
Washington is working to deepen ties with the world’s biggest arms importer and sees deeper technological and military ties with the South Asian country as a key counterbalance to China’s dominance in the region.
The roadmap was finalized in a meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday.
Deal comes weeks before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit washington on June 22 for an official state visit and is holding talks with President Joe Biden.
The talks between Singh and Austin had a “particular focus on identifying ways to strengthen industrial cooperation,” said a statement from the Indian Defense Ministry.
“Both sides will identify opportunities for joint development of new technologies and joint production of new and existing systems and facilitate further collaboration between the defense start-up ecosystems of the two countries,” it said.
“Toward these goals, they concluded a roadmap for US-India Defense Industrial Cooperation that will guide the direction of policy for years to come.”
India depends on Russia for almost half of its military supplies, but has also increasingly diversified its sources to buy from the United States, France and Israel, among other nations.
New Delhi also wants global defense manufacturers to partner with Indian companies and produce weapons and military equipment in India for local consumption and export.
India is looking to buy 18 long-endurance, high-altitude weaponized drones from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc for an estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion, defense analyst Rahul Bedi said. The aircraft will likely be deployed along its uneasy borders with China and Pakistan and in the strategic Indian Ocean region, Bedi added.
Indian media reports said the joint production and manufacturing of fighter jet engines, infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers and their precision munitions were discussed last month in Washington at a meeting of the United States Defense Policy Group. United and India.
US defense trade with India increased from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. Indian purchases from the US included long-range maritime patrol aircraft, C-130 transport aircraft , missiles and drones.
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