US calls on India for missile partnership

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 15 February 2007, 18:30 IST
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New Delhi: US missile experts said that India, like NATO and Japan, should become a development partner in the American missile defence system, which was "far superior to any other such system". Experts added that Japan had become a co-producing partner in the Patriot Pac III anti- missile shield and would start receiving missile batteries by 2010 reported a news agency. "Our government has made a classified presentation on the system to India and we as the industry were eager to follow through on it to explore possibilities of a government-to- government agreement," said Cavin. "We look forward to India also joining as the co-partner in development of the missile shield," top missile executive of the Lockheed-Martin said. Taking part in a roundtable discussion on 'making decision on missile defence' organized by the observer research foundation here in which Indian defence scientists also took part, the experts said India was facing a serious threat from short-range missiles and the government would have to take a decision on anti-missile defence. Mantle, an eminent American missile expert, said in taking a decision on a missile defence system, the government would have to choose which areas had to be covered by the anti-missile shield.