India keen on security equipment from US

The Indian Defence Ministry is eager to obtain high-tech homeland security equipment from the United States.

Speaking at the Friday session of the GIM 2012, the US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Donald Lu, revealed that during a meeting with Defence Minister A K Antony, the biggest Indian request was for greater technological transfer between the two countries.

“When our delegation met with the Ministry last year, the first enquiry was about acquiring high-tech security equipment,” Lu said. “On the commercial side, so many Indian and American companies do business that it becomes all about sharing technology and having access to a large, skilled workforce pooled from both countries.”

As an example of Indian and US companies working together to produce high-class products, Lu pointed out the new  Tata-Lockheed-Martin factory at Hyderabad which is to build tail sections for all future batches of C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, using US technology and skilled Indian workers.

Similar ventures would create hundreds of new jobs and economic opportunity in both the countries. The Boeing Research and Technology Centre in Bangalore which is developing cutting-edge technology for the global market is another example of the US-India technological partnership, he added.