Indo-US Joint Working Group In Defence Industrial Security

October 01, 2021

The government and private stakeholders have to be urged to use existing ecosystems for not only expanding the defense trade, but also co-development, innovation and co-production.

The five day long summit focused on developing protocols for the exchange of classified information between the defense industries on both sides. (Representational image)

Ahead of the 4th edition of 2+2 Indo-US Ministerial talks scheduled for next month, the first Industrial Security Annex (ISA) summit concluded in New Delhi.

The summit level meeting took place in New Delhi between the officials of both countries from Sept 27 –Oct 1, 2021 in which the Indian side was led by Anurag Bajpai and David Paul Bagnati from the US as both are Designated Security Authorities (DSAs).

Why The Summit Was Organized?

During the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President Joe Biden last month, a decision was taken to hold the ISA summit level talks at the earliest to facilitate high-end defense industrial collaboration. And they both agreed that the foundational agreements that have been inked between the two countries need to be operationalised soon.

The five day long summit focused on developing protocols for the exchange of classified information between the defense industries on both sides.

The US has already designated India as a Major Defense Partner. The two sides have been engaging on a regular basis to help strengthen military-to-military interactions; sharing of logistics; cooperation in advanced military technologies; and expanding engagements in a multilateral framework including with regional partners.

The government and private stakeholders have to be urged to use existing ecosystems for not only expanding the defense trade, but also for co-development, innovation and co-production.

When was the ISA signed between India and the US?
At the end of the second edition of 2+2 Ministerial level talks in Washington DC in December 2019, the two sides concluded the ISA which is meant to help in exchanging classified information between the defense industries of both countries.

The Highlights Of ISA Summit In New Delhi

• To prepare a roadmap for the implementation of the ISA, the DSAs of both sides visited the Indian defence industry.
• In-principle agreement set up an Indo-US Industrial Security Joint Working Group.
• For allowing the defence industries to collaborate cutting edge technologies, this group will meet from time to assist to align the policies and procedures.

Both countries recently decided to work on co-developing air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This project is being done under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).

Under ISA, the US side is expected to help in providing the necessary framework which will be useful in pursuing the co-development and co-production in the defence production centre.

Courtesy: FE Online