Lloyd Austin and Rajnath Singh Held Critical Discussions to Enhance Defense Cooperation Between India and the US

Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense visited India for a two-day visit and conducted critical discussions to strengthen the defense cooperation between the nations.                       

Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary of the United States, on his two-day visit to India from June 4th-5th June 2023, has met with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh over strengthening bilateral defense cooperation between both nations. Major areas focussed on the dialogues include the transfer of critical technologies for the co-development of military hardware. This is briefly the second visit of Mr. Austin to India post his trip in March 2021.

Mr. Singh and Mr. Austin made critical discussions on General Electric’s Proposal for sharing technology with India for fighter jet engines. Talks regarding procuring 30 MQ-9B armed drones at a desired cost of over three billion USD from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, also took place to reach an effective solution.

Both nations have planned to launch negotiations for two crucial agreements concerning the security of Supply Arrangement and a Reciprocal Defense Procurement to establish stable supply chains of arms and equipment.

Praising the recent launch of a new Advanced Domains Defense Dialogue, both officials emphasized the forum’s commitment to expanding the scope of bilateral defense cooperation, encompassing various domains. Mr. Austin and Mr. Singh also discussed the establishment of the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), a new initiative in advancing cutting-edge technology cooperation.

This initiative is anticipated to be launched on June 21st, 2023, by the US-India Business Council, designed accordingly to complement pre-existing government-to-government collaboration via promoting innovative partnerships between US and India. It extends to companies in both nations, investors, start-up accelerations, and academic research institutions. This comes as a prelude to Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit, which is planned on June 22, 2023.