US recognises India as 'major defence partner'

NEW DELHI: US recognising India as a “major defence partner” is a big boost for New Delhi, which has been seeking state-of-the-art technology from Washington to achieve self-sufficiency in defence manufacturing.

The description comes less than a month after the House of Representatives passed the ‘US India Defense Technology and Partnership Act’, as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that authorises the US military to spend budget allocations. With the bilateral Defense Technology and Trade Initiative not yielding desired results, the acknowledgement as a “major defence partner” could help India get high-end technology.

“The US will continue to work towards facilitating technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies...The leaders reached an understanding under which India would receive licencefree access to a wide range of dual-use technologies in conjunction with steps that India has committed to take to advance its export control objectives.

In support of India’s Make-In-India initiative, and to support the development of robust defence industries and their integration into the global supply chain, the US will... facilitate the export of goods and technologies... for projects, programs and joint ventures in support of official US-India defence cooperation,” as per an Indo-US joint statement issued after the Obama-Modi meet.