AP Minister for IT Mekapati Goutham Reddy, Joel Reifman, Consul General, US Consulate General Hyderabad and Captain Daniel E. Fillion (Navy), Chief Office of Defence Cooperation

Industrial Security agreement to support sales and co-production of defence equipment

India and the US have finalised the Industrial Security Annexe that will facilitate collaboration between the defence sector industries by supporting the secure transfer of key information technology. This will also allow maximum level of collaboration and cooperation with India both in sales and co-production of defence equipment, said Mr. Joel Reifman, Consul-General, US Consulate General Hyderabad here on Thursday.

Sharing the update he received from the Second India-US 2 + 2 dialogue that was held on Wednesday at Washington DC between Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper, Mr. Reifman said three more agreements were also finalised under the defence technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) that would allow “us to co-produce and co-develop credible technologies”.

Addressing a joint media conference on the sidelines of Day 2 of US -India Defence Ties conference here along with M. Goutham Reddy, Minister for Industries, Commerce and IT, Andhra Pradesh , he said that the US Consul here covered the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. He recalled his visit to Visakhapatnam where the first ever tri-service military exercise between India and the United States was held successfully in November . The Port of Visakhapatnam welcomed three U.S Navy ship visits too in the past year, he said.

Mr. Goutham Reddy said Andhra Pradesh has the strategic advantage of having 900-km coastline and recently concluded tri-services exercise between the US and Indian armed forces and he was confident that it would be followed up with lot more, given the extension of Indian Ocean defence cooperation between India and US governments. He said the entrepreneurs would not see a more welcoming State than AP for investments. As the port city of Visakhapatnam has been declared as the executive capital, it will lead to economic boom in that part of the State. Visakhapatnam, despite being a cosmopolitan coastal city with several existing industries and public sector units and immense potential, has been neglected in the last five years.

Asked whether Vizag has been confirmed as the executive capital of AP, he said Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was known for keeping his word. He exuded confidence that Visakhapatnam would emerge as the incubation centre for the next level industrial growth.

Captain Daniel E Fillion, US Embassy, New Delhi,said that Industrial Security agreement would allow sharing of classified information between the two countries.