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Washington, DC, United States of America (USA)
Rajnath Singh arrived in Washington on Thursday morning for a four-day visit.
India and the United States look forward to working together and benefiting from each other's experience, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said during a visit to the top US Naval Surface Warfare Facility in Maryland.
India and the United States look forward to working together and benefiting from each other's experience, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said during a visit to the top US Naval Surface Warfare Facility in Maryland.
Singh is on a four-day official visit to the United States to further promote the US-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. “Visited the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock and witnessed firsthand the pioneering experiments at the facility,” Singer said in an article on X.
“India and the United States look forward to working together and benefiting from each other's experiences,” he wrote on Saturday after visiting top U.S. naval facilities. During his visit, Singh earlier met US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Austin praised the momentum in U.S.-India relations during his meeting with Singh. He noted that the two countries have increased cooperation on a range of defense issues, including efforts to strengthen critical supply chains and interoperability between their militaries.
“We share a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and our defense cooperation continues to strengthen,” Austin said. “We are expanding our defense industry ties and working together to produce more capabilities and increase supply chain resiliency,” he explain.
He said the two countries have strengthened operational cooperation in various fields and highlighted India's participation in this summer's Rim of the Pacific exercise, a large-scale exercise led by the US Navy in Hawaii and involving 29 partner countries.
Austin said the Indian Navy remains an important security provider in the Indian Ocean. “Indian sailors help sailors in distress and defend global commerce. Therefore, we are committed to deepening naval cooperation, doing more with unmanned technology and increasing undersea domain awareness.”
Singh said the growing cooperation spans “all areas of human endeavour”. The defense secretary noted that the United States and India share strong people-to-people ties, shared democratic values and convergence of interests on a range of issues. Austin and Singh met a day after the two countries finalized an agreement aimed at mitigating unexpected supply chain issues to meet national security needs.
Under a non-binding “security of supply” arrangement, the United States and India agreed to provide priority support for goods and services that promote defense.
“This security of supply arrangement represents a critical moment in the major U.S.-India defense partnership and will be a key element in strengthening U.S.-India defense technology and trade plans,” said Secretary of Defense Vic Ramdas, who is responsible for industrial base policy. Ramdass said.
“I'm looking forward to [the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment] Host the next (U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative) meeting this fall to deepen cooperation between our respective defense industrial bases and pursue bilateral co-development, co-production and co-sustainment initiatives,” Ramdas said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has approved the possible sale of anti-submarine sonobuoys and related equipment to India for an estimated cost of $52.8 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency filed the required certifications on Friday to notify Congress of the possible sale.
The Government of India has requested the purchase of AN/SSQ-53G High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare (HAASW) sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-62F HAASW sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-36 sonobuoys; technical and publications and information documents; the agency stated in a statement U.S. Government and contractor engineering and technical support and other related elements of logistics and program services and support, according to
The statement said the proposed sale would help strengthen the U.S.-India strategic relationship and support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives. It will help improve the security of a key defense partner that remains an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.
It added that the proposed sale will enhance India's ability to counter current and future threats by enhancing India's ability to conduct anti-submarine warfare operations using MH-60R helicopters. India will have no difficulty in assimilating these equipment into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not change the basic military balance in the region.
The prime contractors will be Sparton Corporation of De Leon Springs, Florida, or Undersea Sensor Systems Inc. (USSI) of Columbia, or a combination of both. There are no known offsetting agreements related to this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale does not require the dispatch of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to India. The proposed sale would not adversely affect U.S. defense preparedness, the statement said.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
