In Washington, India’s Foreign Secretary Explores Boosting India’s Defense Industry

WASHINGTON, DC (IANS) – India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra and US Defense Under Secretary Colin Kahl have explored boosting India’s defense industry, according to Pentagon spokesperson David Hendon.

At their meeting in Washington on November 8, they discussed “accelerating India’s indigenous defense production through bilateral defense industrial cooperation and partnership in emerging defense domains”, Hendon said in a readout of the talks.

“Kahl reaffirmed the importance of the US-India Major Defense Partnership to shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

Hendon said Kwatra and Kahl “discussed initiatives to advance bilateral defense cooperation” ahead of the next 2+2 meeting.

They also exchanged views on developments related to mutual security interests, including in the Indian Ocean Region and Europe, he said.

The range of topics they discussed included “deepening Navy-to-Navy cooperation, particularly in the undersea domain, (and) expanding information sharing and logistics cooperation to facilitate operational coordination between the US and Indian militaries”, Hendon added.

Kwatra’s visit to Washington comes ahead of the 2+2 Ministerial meeting of Union Ministers S. Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh with US Secretaries Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin in New Delhi next month.

Kwatra met Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on November 7.