New Delhi: Ahead of the India-US bilateral two-plus-two dialogue, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh That his country would stand with India to defend its sovereignty in the face of the belligerence of China on its northern borders.
Singh, on his part, stressed the need for co-development and co-production of high-tech weapons by India and the US, while allowing US defense and aerospace companies to take advantage of his government’s initiatives to set up production facilities in India. encouraged to.
Austin accused the People’s Republic of China of attempting to challenge and undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors in the Indo-Pacific. “Beijing is destroying the security of the Indo-Pacific region from building dual-use infrastructure on your (India’s) border to its illegal claims in the South China Sea, and we will stand by you as you defend your sovereign interests.” protect,” he said.
The US Defense Secretary wasted no time raising the Ukraine issue, saying Beijing is not alone in its efforts to undermine the security of its neighbors and change the status quo by force. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian devastation it has caused is a blatant attempt to undermine the international order that is based on the rules and principles we share,” he said.
Austin said that just as India’s leadership was central to this rules-based order, so is the US-India defense partnership and our cooperation with like-minded partners. “We now coordinate with each other in the Indo-Pacific region and across domains, which is truly extraordinary, and we look forward to working seamlessly with you in new and emerging domains, including space and cyberspace,” he said. Committed to.”
The two leaders reviewed all aspects of bilateral defense cooperation and the regional security situation. Indian officials said the two ministers recognized the importance of the India-US defense partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean region.
They discussed ways to work together to deepen the key bilateral “Defense Partnership” and to advance the quality and scope of cooperation. They reviewed military-to-military engagement, information sharing, enhanced logistical cooperation and the ability of the armed forces to cooperate closely under the accompaniment. Communications In this context, the close cooperation of the Special Operations Forces came to the fore.
Singh also separately met senior executives of Boeing and Raytheon, two of the world’s largest arms companies, and asked them to leverage policy initiatives in India to move from “Make in India” to “Make for the world”. said.
India is slowly but steadily making efforts to move out of its strategically vulnerable position of being the world’s largest arms importer and build a strong defence-industry base. In this direction, nine proposed foreign arms deals worth Rs 46,695 crore were scrapped recently in pursuance of the “Make in India” policy.
The government is encouraging global arms companies to set up bases in India, emphasizing that there will be no discrimination between them and domestic companies in an effort to make the country a global defense hub.
The US, on its part, has offered to deepen bilateral defense cooperation to address India’s heavy reliance on Russian military hardware and software in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
Faced with US-led sanctions against Russia, India faces the challenge of maintaining high operational military readiness as nearly 70% of its defense hardware and software is of Soviet or Russian origin, requiring regular supplies of spares. Is. Maintenance.
Of course, the US has secured lucrative Indian defense deals worth over $21 billion since 2007. But no major project to jointly develop and produce state-of-the-art weapon systems and platforms has begun under the Bilateral Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). Which was launched in 2012.
Singh, on his part, stressed the need for co-development and co-production of high-tech weapons by India and the US, while allowing US defense and aerospace companies to take advantage of his government’s initiatives to set up production facilities in India. encouraged to.
Austin accused the People’s Republic of China of attempting to challenge and undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors in the Indo-Pacific. “Beijing is destroying the security of the Indo-Pacific region from building dual-use infrastructure on your (India’s) border to its illegal claims in the South China Sea, and we will stand by you as you defend your sovereign interests.” protect,” he said.
The US Defense Secretary wasted no time raising the Ukraine issue, saying Beijing is not alone in its efforts to undermine the security of its neighbors and change the status quo by force. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian devastation it has caused is a blatant attempt to undermine the international order that is based on the rules and principles we share,” he said.
Austin said that just as India’s leadership was central to this rules-based order, so is the US-India defense partnership and our cooperation with like-minded partners. “We now coordinate with each other in the Indo-Pacific region and across domains, which is truly extraordinary, and we look forward to working seamlessly with you in new and emerging domains, including space and cyberspace,” he said. Committed to.”
The two leaders reviewed all aspects of bilateral defense cooperation and the regional security situation. Indian officials said the two ministers recognized the importance of the India-US defense partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean region.
They discussed ways to work together to deepen the key bilateral “Defense Partnership” and to advance the quality and scope of cooperation. They reviewed military-to-military engagement, information sharing, enhanced logistical cooperation and the ability of the armed forces to cooperate closely under the accompaniment. Communications In this context, the close cooperation of the Special Operations Forces came to the fore.
Singh also separately met senior executives of Boeing and Raytheon, two of the world’s largest arms companies, and asked them to leverage policy initiatives in India to move from “Make in India” to “Make for the world”. said.
India is slowly but steadily making efforts to move out of its strategically vulnerable position of being the world’s largest arms importer and build a strong defence-industry base. In this direction, nine proposed foreign arms deals worth Rs 46,695 crore were scrapped recently in pursuance of the “Make in India” policy.
The government is encouraging global arms companies to set up bases in India, emphasizing that there will be no discrimination between them and domestic companies in an effort to make the country a global defense hub.
The US, on its part, has offered to deepen bilateral defense cooperation to address India’s heavy reliance on Russian military hardware and software in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
Faced with US-led sanctions against Russia, India faces the challenge of maintaining high operational military readiness as nearly 70% of its defense hardware and software is of Soviet or Russian origin, requiring regular supplies of spares. Is. Maintenance.
Of course, the US has secured lucrative Indian defense deals worth over $21 billion since 2007. But no major project to jointly develop and produce state-of-the-art weapon systems and platforms has begun under the Bilateral Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). Which was launched in 2012.