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New
Delhi, 09 July 2005
THE
DEFENSE FRAMEWORK
Signed
on June 28, 2005 in Washington DC by
Minister
of Defense of India, Pranab Mukherjee and
Secretary
of Defense of the United States, Donald Rumsfeld
NEW
FRAMEWORK FOR THE U.S. – INDIA DEFENSE
RELATIONSHIP
1.
The United States and India have entered a new era.
We are transforming our relationship to reflect our
common principles and shared national interests. As
the world's two largest democracies, the United
States and India agree on the vital importance of
political and economic freedom, democratic
institutions, the rule of law, security, and
opportunity around the world. The leaders of our two
countries are building a U.S.-India strategic
partnership in pursuit of these principles and
interests.
2.
Ten years ago, in January 1995, the Agreed Minute on
Defense Relations Between the United States and
India was signed. Since then, changes in the
international security environment have challenged
our countries in ways unforeseen ten years ago. The
U.S.-India defense relationship has advanced in a
short time to unprecedented levels of cooperation
unimaginable in 1995. Today, we agree on a new
Framework that builds on past successes, seizes new
opportunities, and charts a course for the
U.S.-India defense relationship for the next ten
years. This defense relationship will support, and
will be an element of, the broader U.S.-India
strategic partnership.
3.
The U.S.-India defense relationship derives from a
common belief in freedom, democracy, and the rule of
law, and seeks to advance shared security interests.
These interests include:
-
Maintaining
security and stability;
-
Defeating
terrorism and violent religious extremism;
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Preventing
the spread of weapons of mass destruction and
associated materials, data, and technologies;
and
-
Protecting
the free flow of commerce via land, air and sea
lanes.
4.
In pursuit of this shared vision of an expanded and
deeper U.S.-India strategic relationship, our
defense establishments shall:
-
Conduct
joint and combined exercises and exchanges;
-
Collaborate
in multinational operations when it is in their
common interest;
-
Strengthen
the capabilities of our militaries to promote
security and defeat terrorism;
-
Expand
interaction with other nations in ways that
promote regional and global peace and stability;
-
Enhance
capabilities to combat the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction;
-
In
the context of our strategic relationship,
expand two-way defense trade between our
countries. The United States and India will work
to conclude defense transactions, not solely as
ends in and of themselves, but as a means to
strengthen our countries' security, reinforce
our strategic partnership, achieve greater
interaction between our armed forces, and build
greater understanding between our defense
establishments;
-
In
the context of defense trade and a framework of
technology security safeguards, increase
opportunities for technology transfer,
collaboration, co-production, and research and
development;
-
Expand
collaboration relating to missile defense;
-
Strengthen
the abilities of our militaries to respond
quickly to disaster situations, including in
combined operations;
-
Assist
in building worldwide capacity to conduct
successful peacekeeping operations, with a focus
on enabling other countries to field trained,
capable forces for these operations;
-
Conduct
exchanges on defense strategy and defense
transformation;
-
Increase
exchanges of intelligence; and
-
Continue
strategic-level discussions by senior leadership
from the U.S. Department of Defense and India's
Ministry of Defence, in which the two sides
exchange perspectives on international security
issues of common interest, with the aim of
increasing mutual understanding, promoting
shared objectives, and developing common
approaches.
5.
The Defense Policy Group shall continue to serve as
the primary mechanism to guide the U.S.-India
strategic defense relationship. The Defense Policy
Group will make appropriate adjustments to the
structure and frequency of its meetings and of its
subgroups, when agreed to by the Defense Policy
Group co-chairs, to ensure that it remains an
effective mechanism to advance U.S.-India defense
cooperation.
6.
In recognition of the growing breadth and depth of
the U.S.-India strategic defense relationship, we
hereby establish the Defense Procurement and
Production Group and institute a Joint Working Group
for mid-year review of work overseen by the Defense
Policy Group.
-
The
Defense Procurement and Production Group will
oversee defense trade, as well as prospects for
co-production and technology collaboration,
broadening the scope of its predecessor subgroup
the Security Cooperation Group.
-
The
Defense Joint Working Group will be subordinate
to the Defense Policy Group and will meet at
least once per year to perform a midyear review
of work overseen by the Defense Policy Group and
its subgroups (the Defense Procurement and
Production Group, the Joint Technical Group, the
Military Cooperation Group, and the Senior
Technology Security Group), and to prepare
issues for the annual meeting of the Defense
Policy Group.
7.
The Defense Policy Group and its subgroups will rely
upon this Framework for guidance on the principles
and objectives of the U.S.-India strategic
relationship, and will strive to achieve those
objectives.
Signed
in Arlington, Virginia, USA, on June 28, 2005, in
two copies in English, each being equally authentic.
Secretary of Defense
Minister of Defence
For
And On Behalf Of The Government Of
For And On Behalf Of The Government Of
The
United States Of America
The Republic Of India
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