India, US discuss expanding defence cooperation

India and the United States discussed the possibility of expanding bilateral defence cooperation further to new domains, including space, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and counter drone technology.

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and the United States Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, Colin Kahl, co-chaired the 16th meeting of the India-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) in Washington. They exchanged views on regional issues of shared interest, including in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region. They also discussed opportunities for enhanced cooperation with like-minded partners to sustain a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to a spokesperson of the US Department of Defence.

The Defence Policy Group is the apex official-level mechanism between the Ministry of Defence of India and the US Department of Defence to comprehensively review and guide all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation.

Kumar and Kahl agreed to encourage both the private and government stakeholders to utilise the existing innovation ecosystems in defence industries for co-development and co-production. They welcomed the cooperation in new domains, such as space, Artificial Intelligence, cyber and counter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (drone) technologies.

They also reviewed the preparation for the next India-US 2+2 dialogue, which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold with their counterparts US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in Washington later this year.

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