India and the U.S. will attempt to elevate their strategic cooperation by several notches when U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter begins his India visit from Goa, home state of his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar, on Sunday.
For both sides this will likely be the last such high-level engagement on the defence side ahead of Presidential elections in the U.S. in September and a change of government there. Mr. Parrikar will host Mr. Carter on aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and the trip will wind up with official engagements in the national capital on Tuesday.
Both countries are currently negotiating the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) which gives militaries of the two countries access to each other’s facilities for fuelling and berthing. However India has expressed reservations on usage in times of war and has sought clarification from the U.S.
The burgeoning defence cooperation under the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) will be reviewed. The talks will focus on the 17 new projects in the pipeline and attempts will be made to narrow down and finalise them.
With India looking for another fighter aircraft beyond the Rafale, the U.S. has already presented India with offers for producing the F-16 and F-18 fighter jets under Make in India.
