US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also held talks with National Security Advisor (NSA) A𒆙jit Doval during his visit to India.
During the ongoing visit of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to India, the two countries on Monday firmed up an ambitious roadmap for de⛄fence industrial cooperation to accord high prior♎ity to various projects for the co-development of military platforms and hardware.
Th⭕e development comes against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict and China's increasing muscle-flexing in the Indo-﷽Pacific region.
A🔜ustin's visit and the laying of ground-work for increased defence industrial cooperation also takes place in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the United States later this month.
T🌺he roadmap was finalised during t��alks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Austin.
At a media briefing, Austin said the US-India partnership is a &𝐆quot;cornerstone" for a free and open Indo-Pacific and the deepening ties showed how technological innovation and growing military cooperation between the two "great powers" can be🎐 a force for global good.
Austin said the US-India coopera𒁏tion matters "because we all face a rapidly changing world. We see bullying and coercion from the People's Republic of China and Russian aggression against Ukraine 💃that seeks to redraw borders and threatens national sovereignty".
It is learnt that Singh and Austin also touched upon General Electric's proposal to share tec🌸hnology with India for fighter jet engines and New Delhi's plan to procure 30 MQ-9B armed drones for over $3 billion from US defence major General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
Austin also held separate talks with NSA Ajit Dovalꦅ.
Austin said, "We established an ambitiou𓄧s new roadmap for defence industrial cooperation wit🐈h a fast-track (and) high-priority for co-development and co-production projects and to build closer ties between our defence industries. We look forward to advancing some of those projects during the upcoming visits."
The two sides also🔯 deliberated on ways to increase information sharing as well as new ini🔥tiatives to improve maritime cooperation, including in the undersea domain.
In a statement, the defence ministry said both sides will identify opportunities for the co-development of new technologies and the co-production of existing and new systems besides fa💞cilitating increasing 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 pol♋icy direction for the next few years," it said.
The ministry said the meeting between Singh and Austin was "warm and cordial" and the two sides discussed a "substantial range" of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with a particular focus on identifying ways to strengthen industrial🌠 cooperation.
In a series of tweets, Singh said the talks revolved around enhancing defence cooperation in several areas including the convergence of strategic interests and security coopera🤡tion.
"Ind⛄ia-US par🍒tnership 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," Singh said.
The defence ministꦚry said both sides reviewed the robust and multifaceted bilateral defence cooperation activities and agreed to maintain the momentum of engagement.
"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," it said.
In his remarks at the media briefing, Austin said that as the world's two largest democracies, India and the US have a unique role in preserving the rules-based international order that "k🌟eeps us all secure".
"Our global and strategic partnership has continued to rapidly grow. Today the US-India partnership is a cornerstone for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Our deepening bond shows how technological ♍innovation and growing military cooperation between two great powers can be a force for global good," he said.
Austin described his talks with Singh and Doval 🗹as "prod🔜uctive".
"Democracies must now𒈔 rally together in common interests and shared values. Preserving and protecting freedom are essential to peace and prosper༒ity and require vigorous leadership from the US and India," he said.
"So we still have a lot of work to do. I am confident that the US-India partnership will help secure an open and prosperous future for the Indo-ꩲPacific and the wider worl🥀d," he said.
Austin arrived in New Delhi on Sunday on a two-da♑y tour. It is Secretary Austin's second visit to India. His previous trip to the country was in March 2021.
In a major move, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Modi announced in May last year the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to elevate and expand the strategic technology par🅠tnership and defence industrial cooperation between the two countries.
In his address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, the US Defen🔥ce Secretary said that iCET "lets us explore new ways to co-🍨develop key defence platforms".
The iCET is expected to forge closeꦗr linkages between the governmen๊t, academia and industry of the two countries in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G and 6G, biotech, space and semiconductors.
(With PTI inputs)