Defence Minister Singh, US Defence Secretary discuss ways to strengthen industrial cooperation

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi on Monday (June 5, 2023) to explore ways to improve industrial collaboration between the two countries. Both of them also stressed the need for creating robust supply networks during the meeting.

"Delighted to meet my friend, @SecDef Austin in New Delhi. Our talks revolved around enhancing defence cooperation in several areas including convergence of strategic interests and enhanced security cooperation," Defence Minister Singh tweeted.

"India-US partnership is critical for ensuring a free, open and rules-bound Indo-Pacific region. We look forward to closely work with the US across the domains for capacity building and further consolidating our strategic partnership," he added.

According to information released by the Ministry of Defence, both sides will identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing & new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defence start-up ecosystems of the two countries.

Towards these objectives, they concluded a roadmap for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation which shall guide the policy direction for the next few years.They pledged to look for chances to produce both new and old defence systems together and co-develop innovative technology.

They discussed their shared intention to keep up the momentum of engagement as they reviewed the robust and multifaceted bilateral defence cooperation activities.

The Ministry of Defence said they welcomed the inaugural dialogues held recently focusing on Defence Artificial Intelligence and Defence Space. They also discussed the regional security issues given their shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Apart from Singh and Austin, senior officials from the Ministry of Defence also participated in the meeting, including Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, and Secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) Samir V Kamat.

Before the delegation-level talks, Secretary Austin was accorded a Tri-Service Guard of Honor, symbolizing the respect and appreciation for his visit. Secretary Austin's visit to New Delhi spanned two days, with his arrival on June 4, 2023.

The talks between US Secretary of Defense Austin and Defense Minister Singh highlighted the strength of India and the US's defense partnership. These interactions improve peace, security, and technical progress in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond while strengthening strategic cooperation between the two countries.