Significant potential for defence co-production with India, says US

US Under Secretary of War Elbridge Colby today said Washington is looking to expand the sales of its military equipment to India, and that the potential for co-production and co-development is significant.

Colby looks after policy matters in the Department of War and his remarks on co-production have come at a time when India and the US are closing in on having a deal for joint manufacturing of F414 fighter jet engines in India. The engines are to power Tejas Mark 2 jets and the first version of the advanced medium combat aircraft.

Colby was speaking at an event in New Delhi and is scheduled to meet Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh tomorrow for the Defence Policy Group meeting. “This is to accelerate the momentum. We look ahead to a critical new decade of our major defence partnership,” said Colby. He cited the ‘Defence Framework’ between the two countries to “leverage defence industrial, science and technology cooperation to enhance the readiness of our forces, and to jointly develop and produce capabilities”.

“Even as we seek to expand our sales, the US recognises India's ambition to expand its indigenous industry. A strong domestic industrial base enhances sovereignty and resilience. The US supports that objective (of India),” said Colby, hinting that things were moving forward.

He said the focus must now be on advancing forward to serve a larger strategic purpose of strengthening the ability of both countries to contribute to a stable balance of power in the region.

The US, he said, was committed to working with India to hasten and augment cooperation in various domains. “This will require persistence and creativity on both sides. Regulatory barriers, bureaucratic inertia and differences in procurement systems are real challenges. But they are not insurmountable and we should overcome them,” he said.

The framework for the major US-India defence partnership was finalised following talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in October last year.