Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held substantive talks with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington during which the two sides deliberated on the evolving geopolitical situation and the ongoing defence industrial collaboration between the two countries.

Mr Singh, who is on a four-day visit to the US, also interacted with senior leaders of the US defence industry at a round-table organised by the US India Strategic Partnership Forum. The round-table was attended by a large number of US defence and technology companies.

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According to official sources, the Indian minister discussed with his US interlocutors potential areas in which the industries of the two countries could work together.

During his meetings, Mr Singh emphasised that India welcomes US investment and technology collaboration. He is ready with a skilled human resource base, robust pro-FDI and pro-business ecosystem, and a large domestic market.

India looks forward to closely working with the US across the domains of defence for capability building and for an abiding technology & industrial partnership which can address emerging challenges, he added.

Mr Singh highlighted the various co-development and co-production opportunities in India in the areas identified in the India-US Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, which was adopted last year.

At their meeting, Mr Singh and the US defence secretary expressed happiness on the conclusion of the Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA) between the two countries.

The SOSA signed yesterday in Washington DC encourages the defence industrial ecosystems of both countries to work together, and enhances the supply chain resilience. They also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between India and US regarding the Deployment of Liaison Officers. India shall be accordingly deploying the first Liaison Officer to the Headquarters Special Operations Command in Florida, US.

Both ministers appreciated the progress made in operationalising the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness, a Quad initiative and lauded the ongoing efforts by India to enhance the Maritime Domain Awareness for the partners in the Indian Ocean Region. They welcomed the ongoing Indian participation in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and noted that India shall deploy Indian Navy personnel in CMF’s Combined Task Force 150 headquarters in 2025.

Mr Singh and Mr Austin commended the efforts of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) for establishing the Defence Innovation bridge between the two countries. They appreciated INDUS-X establishing robust networks across start-ups, industry, academia, and governments, accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and enhancing the war-fighting capabilities of both sides. The upcoming INDUS X Silicon Valley Summit in September 2024 shall witness announcements of several key initiatives.