After signing all the four foundational agreements to take forward strategic partnership, India and the U.S. are now working to finalise an “air information sharing agreement”, said Frank Kendall, Secretary, U.S. Air Force, on Tuesday.
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Mr. Kendall, who met NSA Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, said the two sides are trusted partners who are sharing more intelligence which will form the basis for “additional agreements”. He specifically mentioned surveillance and joint development of jet engines and space capabilities as areas where the two sides could build together.
“The U.S. has moved forward more than it did in the past in terms of technology sharing with India. India is a major defence partner and we share security concerns. We share interest in the Indo-Pacific region and the globe as well,” said Mr. Kendall, urging for more co-production and co-development.
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The two countries also continue exploring opportunities under Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) for co-development of high-tech weapon systems as well as the much broader Initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies (iCET).
India has now signed all four foundational agreements with the U.S.; the logistics agreement in 2016, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018 and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial cooperation (BECA) in 2020. While the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was signed a long time ago, an extension to it, the Industrial Security Annex (ISA), was signed in 2019.
Recently, the two countries announced an initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
In addition, the U.S. is considering an application from engine manufacturer General Electric to jointly produce the GE-414 jet engines in India to power the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk2 and the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).