IOI
Officials from the two nations struck an agreement on the margins of the US-India 2+2 ministerial conversation in Washington, which was co-hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar led the Indian delegation.
In an April 11 statement, the US Department of Military said, “The four leaders agreed to strengthening collaboration in emerging defence sectors, such as space and cyberspace, as the US and Indian forces jointly confront the challenges of this century.” “The US and India inked a Space Situational Awareness Agreement, laying the framework for more sophisticated space collaboration.”
According to the statement, the two countries also agreed to establish an initial Defense Artificial Intelligence Dialogue, as well as boost bilateral cyber training and exercises.
According to the Indian publication The Indian Express, Austin told reporters after the meeting, “This [agreement] would encourage better information sharing and cooperation in space.” “In online, we’re also strengthening our ties, especially through training and exercises later this year.” We’re also increasing our information-sharing collaboration across all sectors of warfighting.”
According to Austin, the two countries would “start new defence space exchanges between the US Space Command and India’s Defense Space Agency later this year.”
India’s defence minister expressed the hope that this comprehensive alliance will benefit Indian defence firms.
In an April 12 statement, the minister added, “I expressed India’s intention to advance this collaboration toward co-development and co-production with US enterprises.” “Under the ‘Make in India’ programme, we urged for more investments by US defence industries in India. The success of India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ [self-reliant] programmes will hinge on the participation of US companies in industrial collaboration and partnership in research and development.”
