Article published at Chanakya Forum
PM Modi’s Visit To USA: Deal Or No Deal For Fighter Aircraft And Aero-Engines?
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“Both sides will identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing and new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defence start-up ecosystems of the two countries.”
– Statement by the Indian defence ministry, post meeting between visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Introduction
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to the US for an official state visit from June 21 to 24. This will be his first state visit to the US during his nine-year-long reign as prime minister. The forthcoming visit has triggered a debate about the security and defence cooperation at large and the likelihood of a defence deal related to fighter aircraft and aero engines in particular. Similar speculation had started in the month of February this year during Aero India 2023, wherein the USA came in with a large military component including F-21, F-18, and F-35 aircraft besides the B-1 bomber.
The USA is making a bid for the fighter aircraft needs of the Indian Air Force and the Navy. On the other hand, India’s main objective is to fill in the existing gaps in the number of fighter aircraft and while doing so, provide a boost to the domestic defence industry by making in India and infusing technology.
Grounds for the finalisation of some of the deals are being prepared prior to the visit of the Prime Minister. The 17th India-US Defence Policy Group met in Washington, USA, on 17 May 23. It was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl. This was followed by the visit of U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to India on 04 Jun 23. He met the Indian Defence Minister and the NSA to explore ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, especially in areas of transfer of critical technologies for the co-development of military hardware. During these visits, India and the US agreed on a roadmap for defence industry cooperation.
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