US Aims At Helping India Develop Its Own Defence Industrial Base – Top Pentagon Official
March 11, 2021
In 2016, the US recognised India as a ‘Major Defense Partner’ under which Washington will continue to work toward facilitating technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.
The Biden administration is looking at deepening its military and technical cooperation with India by not only providing it with arms and equipment, but also helping New Delhi develop its own defence industrial base to allow it to work with the US and others around the region, a senior Pentagon official has told lawmakers.
In 2016, the US recognised India as a ‘Major Defense Partner’ under which Washington will continue to work toward facilitating technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.
India is a real partner, a rising partner of the United States, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs David Helvey said while responding to a question from Congressman Doug Lamborn during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday on the Indo- Pacific region by the House Armed Services Committee.
“We are looking to … deepen our military-technical cooperation with India that is based on providing them arms and equipment so we can build interoperable forces and capabilities and work with India developing its own defence industrial base so that India is able to produce equipment to service their needs and to be able to work with us and others around the region,” Helvey said.
“We have a unique designation with India; it’s called a Major Defense Partner,” he said, ahead of US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin’s first visit to India from March 19 to 21 that is expected to focus on ways to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific and strengthen overall defence and security ties.
Austin said he would be travelling to India to meet his counterpart Rajnath Singh and other senior national security leaders to discuss deepening the US-India Major Defense Partnership and advancing cooperation between the two countries.
Courtesy: ET