On Monday, India and the US finalized a roadmap to enhance defence industrial cooperation, aiming to explore prospects for jointly developing new technologies and manufacturing both existing and innovative systems. Additionally, the agreement seeks to foster greater collaboration between the defence start-up ecosystems of both nations.
During a bilateral meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and visiting US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the roadmap was finalized to provide the policy direction for the upcoming years. This significant development occurred ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the US later this month, emphasizing the importance of the US Secretary of Defense’s visit.
Meanwhile, Lloyd Austin thanked Rajnath Singh for his “unwavering commitment” to defence ties between India and the US.
Austin tweeted, “Great to meet again with my friend Rajnath Singh and thank him for his unwavering commitment to US-India defence relations. His leadership has helped pave the way for deeper collaboration, joint exercises, and technology sharing between our two countries.”