Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Invites US Defence Companies To Invest Under ‘Make In India’

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held a meeting with Secretary of Defence of the United States Lloyd Austin in the Pentagon.

“Today, we have had a very meaningful and in-depth discussion.  This will help in maintaining the momentum of India-US relationship and taking our work forward. Our two great nations have complementary interests and a shared will to achieve mutual goals,” said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a press statement.

They had discussions on a range of bilateral, defence and global issues and also shared visions on Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.

“It was heartening to note that as world’s largest democracies, we have convergence of views on most of them. Both India and US share a common vision of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region. Our partnership is of critical importance for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region,” said Rajnath Singh.

They talked about the military-to-military engagements and how it strengthen cooperation in regional security in the Western Indian Ocean.

“Our military-to-military engagements have continued in spite of challenges from the Pandemic. We are also glad that India has joined the multilateral Combined Maritime Force (CMF) based in Bahrain, as an Associate Partner. This will strengthen cooperation in regional security in the Western Indian Ocean. We are on course in effectively implementing COMCASA, and complete implementing of BECA,” said Rajnath Singh

“We have agreed to explore further cooperation in the fields of Defence Cyber, Special Forces and expanding the scope of logistics cooperation under LEMOA and during joint exercises,” added Rajnath Singh.

Both sides have agreed on the need to revitalise the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) with joint projects on advanced and emerging and critical military technologies.

Rajnath Singh urged American companies to come and invest in India and support the ‘Make in India’ programme.

“I shared India’s desire to take this partnership towards co-development and co-production with US companies. We called for increased investments by US defence companies in India under the ‘Make in India’ programme. Participation of US entities in Industrial collaboration and partnership in research and development will be critical for success of India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ campaigns,” said Rajnath Singh.