India-US decide to start talks on security, mutual defense procurement agreements

Washington: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin concluded his visit to India on Monday with the two countries taking new steps to strengthen their defense partnership. The US Department of Defense said the importance of defense innovation was one of the main points of discussion during the Austin visit. During his meetings with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, the US Secretary of State and his counterpart exchanged views on a range of regional security issues and supported America’s shared vision for a free and open India Committed to close cooperation with Prashant.

During the meeting between Austin and Singh, the two countries decided to initiate negotiations for two important agreements related to security of supply arrangements and mutual defense procurement in an effort to establish a stable supply chain of arms and equipment.

The Pentagon said Secretary and Minister Singh also pledged to review regulatory barriers that hinder industry-to-industry collaboration and begin negotiations on these agreements. Austin arrived in New Delhi from an official visit to Singapore on a two-day visit to India.

According to a statement by the Indian Defense Ministry, during bilateral talks between Austin and Singh, the two countries were able to draw up a new roadmap for US-India defense industrial cooperation, which “will guide the policy direction for the next few years”. “.

The roadmap will fast track technology collaboration and co-production in areas such as air warfare and land mobility systems; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; war material; and the undersea domain.

“The initiative aims to change the paradigm of cooperation between the US and Indian defense sectors, including a set of specific proposals that can provide India access to cutting-edge technologies and enhance India’s defense capabilities,” read the Defense Department readout. Can support defense modernization plans.”

Austin arrived in India on Sunday to strengthen the key defense partnership between India and the US and advance cooperation in critical areas ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s official state visit to Washington later this month.

The Secretary and his counterparts also discussed the growing importance of defense innovation and cooperation in emerging domains such as space, cyberspace and artificial intelligence. They commended the recent launch of a new Enhanced Domain Defense Dialogue and committed to expand the scope of bilateral defense cooperation to include all domains.

They also welcomed the establishment of the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (Indus-X), a new initiative to advance cutting-edge technology collaboration. The initiative, which the US India Business Council will launch on June 21, is designed to complement existing government-to-government collaboration by fostering innovative partnerships between US and Indian companies, investors, start-up accelerators, and academic research institutions Has gone. Read the release of the US Department of Defense.

In addition, Lloyd Austin and Rajnath Singh also committed to strengthen operational cooperation across military services to support India’s leading role as a security provider in the Indo-Pacific region.

They talked about new possibilities for information sharing and enhanced cooperation in the maritime domain. At this point, Secretary Austin welcomed India’s leadership position in the quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative (IPMDA), which Indo-Pacific region state-of-the-art domain awareness capability,” the US Department of Defense said.

“In his meeting with National Security Advisor Doval, the secretary exchanged views regarding regional and global security issues of concern, including maritime security in the Indian Ocean region,” the Pentagon said.

The Secretary welcomed Doval’s vision of shared security interests and objectives, including his ideas for greater maritime cooperation. The US Department of Defense said that throughout his engagements, the Secretary underlined the centrality of the US-India partnership to maintaining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.