India, US discuss co-development of military tech

India and the US have discussed cooperation for co-development and co-production of military equipment as Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby on Thursday in the United States.

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The Indian Embassy in US said: “The two sides discussed (widening the scope of) military exercises, cooperating on logistics, information sharing, interoperability of the forces, and regional and global issues, including the Indo-Pacific.”

Deputy National Security Advisor Pavan Kapoor was also present at the meeting. Defence is a key pillar of the India–US partnership and is part of the India-US COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) initiative.

Among the key issues on defence ties is the irksome delay in supplies of the F-414 engines that will power the Tejas Mark1-A fighter jets. The US firm, General Electric, was to start supplies in 2023. Separately, General Atomics, the maker of predator drones, is to provide 31 drones that will be used for surveillance. These are also capable of carrying weapons to tackle any threats.

In an X post, Colby said: “The US-India alliance is on fundamentally strong ground, based on shared interests and mutual respect. We here at Department of Defense are striving hard to elevate defence cooperation as part of this partnership.”

During their visit, Misri and Kapoor also interacted with leading US think tank specialists and were involved in extensive deliberations that encompassed defence cooperation, technology collaborations, trade patterns and significant regional and global developments.

The Indian Embassy in the US tweeted about the interaction on X, “ (Misri and Kapoor) held an engaging interaction with leading US think tank experts today. Wide-ranging discussions covered India-US cooperation in defence, technology and trade, as well as key regional and global developments.”

The duo also met with leading US business executives during a roundtable hosted by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Thursday, focusing on bolstering bilateral cooperation in key sectors. The USISPF, in a statement, said the dialogue focused on expanding cooperation under the TRUST initiative — an effort to build a secure, transparent and resilient innovation ecosystem through stronger public-private-academic engagement.