Washington: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday interacted with the senior leadership of US defence companies here in an industry round-table organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and outlined the various emerging co-development and co-production opportunities in the defence sector in India.

An official release said that the progressive reforms undertaken by the Centre have encouraged many foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers, including from the US, to set up manufacturing units in India, develop Joint Ventures, and also to make India their alternate export base. The planned co-production of GE 414 aero-engines in India shall be a significant milestone in India-US bilateral relations.

Rajnath Singh highlighted that 'partnership' and 'joint efforts' are the two keywords that differentiate India's defence industry partnership with other nations.

The event saw the attendance of senior leadership from prominent US defence and technology companies such as Boeing, GE, General Atomics, General Dynamics Land Systems, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Rolls Royce, and ThayerMahan.

In addition, a few Indian companies, such as ideaForge, Tata Sons and Tsecond, along with senior leaders from The Cohen Group attended the interaction with the Defence Minister. During the interaction, the business leaders briefly outlined their ongoing projects and future plans for India, and provided valuable feedback.

He emphasised that India welcomes US investment and technology collaboration, and is ready with a skilled human resource base, a robust pro-FDI and pro-business ecosystem, and large domestic market.

During his meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, the two leaders expressed happiness on the conclusion of the Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA), which encourages the defence industrial ecosystems of both countries to work together, and enhances the supply chain resilience.

Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Lloyd Austin in Pentagon, Washington DC on Friday.

They held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral defence cooperation, industrial collaboration, regional security and other international issues.

In his opening remarks, Rajnath Singh said that India and the US enjoy a comprehensive global strategic partnership covering almost all areas of human endeavour.

He said bilateral relationship has seen a growing convergence of strategic interests and enhanced defence, security and industrial cooperation.

"Our leaders share an excellent rapport and are working together on several global issues apart from vast and growing bilateral relations. We have had regular high-level interactions and that includes PM Modi's state visit to the US in June where he also addressed the joint sitting of US Congress. President Biden visited India in September 2023 to attend the G20 leaders summit. PM Modi met President Biden on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Italy," he said.

Rajnath Singh highlighted the various co-development and co-production opportunities in India in the areas identified in the India-US Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, which was adopted last year.

"Both Ministers expressed happiness on the conclusion of the Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA) between India and US. The SOSA signed yesterday in Washington DC encourages the defence industrial ecosystems of both countries to work together, and enhances the supply chain resilience," a Defence Ministry release said.

They also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between India and US regarding the Deployment of Liaison Officers. India shall be accordingly deploying the first Liaison Officer to the Headquarters Special Operations Command in Florida, US.

Both the ministers appreciated the progress made in operationalising the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness, a Quad initiative and lauded the ongoing efforts by India to enhance the Maritime Domain Awareness for the partners in the Indian Ocean Region.

They welcomed the ongoing Indian participation in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and noted that India shall deploy Indian Navy personnel in CMF's Combined Task Force 150 headquarters in 2025.

The two leaders commended the efforts of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) for establishing the Defence Innovation bridge between the two countries. They appreciated INDUS-X establishing robust networks across start-ups, industry, academia, and governments, accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and enhancing war-fighting capabilities of both sides.

The upcoming INDUS X Silicon Valley Summit in September 2024 shall witness announcements of several key initiatives, a release said.

The meeting at the Pentagon was preceded by a solemn wreath-laying ceremony by Rajnath Singh at Arlington National Cemetery.

Rajnath Singh and Lloyd Austin looked forward to meeting again at the next India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.

"Excellent meeting with my dear friend @SecDef Lloyd Austin. We reviewed the existing defence cooperation activities and discussed ways to deepen it further. The signing of Security of Supply Arrangements and the agreement for positioning of Indian officers at key US commands are pathbreaking developments," Rajnath Singh said in a post on X.

Rajnath Singh also met the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House in Washington DC on Friday.

They deliberated on the evolving geopolitical situation and certain key regional security issues. They also discussed the ongoing defence industrial collaboration projects between India and US, and potential areas where the industries of the two countries could work together.

Rajnath Singh is on an official visit to the US from August 23 to 26.

(With Inputs From Agencies)