Modi-Trump Talk ‘Deployments of US & Indian militaries in Indo-Pacific’
PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump Image credit X.com
Modi-Trump Meeting: US to Work Technology Transfer in Defence with India
By Raisina Correspondent
New Delhi, February 14: India and the US joint statement has mentioned “deployment of the US and the Indian militaries in the Indo Pacific”. India and the US also agreed to deepen defence ties with technology transfer as key focus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a four-hour-long bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump on Thursday. India and the US issued a joint statement, stating resolve to work for substantive improvement in defence relations between the two countries.
“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,” stated the joint statement issued after the bilateral meeting of Trump and Modi.
It also spotlighted “arrangements to improve force mobility for joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations along with other exchanges and security cooperation engagements”.
“The leaders (Modi and Trump) 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,” added the joint statement.
It stated that both the “leaders welcomed the forthcoming ‘Tiger Triumph’ tri-service exercise (first inaugurated in 2019) with larger scale and complexity to be hosted in India”. “President Trump and Prime Minister Modi launched a new initiative – the ‘U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century’ – to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation,” said the joint statement.
It also mentioned that the two 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”.
Additionally, the U.S. would expand defence sales and co-production with India to strengthen interoperability and defence 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 defence requirements,” added the joint statement.
It also stated that “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”.
“The U.S. and India will review their respective arms transfer regulations, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), in order to streamline defence trade, technology exchange and maintenance, spare supplies and in-country repair and overhaul of U.S.-provided defence systems,” added the joint statement.
India and the US also agreed “for opening negotiations this year for a Reciprocal Defence Procurement (RDP) agreement to better align their procurement systems and enable the reciprocal supply of defence goods and services. The leaders pledged to accelerate defence technology cooperation across space, air defence, 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”.
Both the leaders also announced a new initiative – the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) – to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific. “The leaders welcomed a new partnership between Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group on advanced autonomous technologies to co-develop and co-produce state-of-the-art maritime systems and advanced AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to strengthen regional security, and between L3 Harris and Bharat Electronics for co-development of active towed array systems,” added the joint statement.
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