India,US to boost defense ties

The leaders welcomed the significant integration of U.S.-origin defense items into India's inventory to date, including C?130J Super Hercules, C?17 Globemaster III, P?8I Poseidon aircraft; CH?47F Chinooks, MH?60R Seahawks, and AH?64E Apaches; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; M777 howitzers; and MQ?9Bs. The leaders determined that the U.S. would expand defense sales and co-production with India to strengthen interoperability and defense industrial cooperation.

 They announced plans to pursue this year new procurements and co-production arrangements for "Javelin” Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and "Stryker” Infantry Combat Vehicles in India to rapidly meet India’s defense requirements. They also expect completion of procurement for six additional P-8I Maritime Patrol aircraft to enhance India’s maritime surveillance reach in the Indian Ocean Region following agreement on sale terms.

Recognizing that India is a Major Defense Partner with Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA?1) authorization and a key Quad partner, the U.S. and India will review their respective arms transfer regulations, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), in order to streamline defense trade, technology exchange and maintenance, spare supplies and in-country repair and overhaul of U.S.-provided defense systems.

The leaders also called for opening negotiations this year for a Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) agreement to better align their procurement systems and enable the reciprocal supply of defense goods and services. The leaders pledged to accelerate defense technology cooperation across space, air defense, missile, maritime and undersea technologies, with the U.S. announcing a review of its policy on releasing fifth generation fighters and undersea systems to India.

The leaders also pledged to elevate military cooperation across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies. The leaders welcomed the forthcoming "Tiger Triumph” tri-service exercise (first inaugurated in 2019) with larger scale and complexity to be hosted in India.

 Finally, the leaders committed to break new ground to support and sustain the overseas deployments of the U.S. and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as arrangements to improve force mobility for joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations along with other exchanges and security cooperation engagements.