India is looking at replacing the buyer-seller bilateral defence relationship with the US with one of joint research and development, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
The minister underlined that the two countries are “uniquely poised to leverage each other’s strengths for a win-win model in the coming years”.
“The participation of the US entities in joint research and development, and industrial collaboration with the Indian public and private sectors will be important for the success of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and for further strengthening the India-US relationship,” Singh said during an address to the American Chamber of Commerce.
In the 2+2 meeting held on 11 April in Washington, India and the US decided to expand engagements in some of the critical and emerging defence domains.
The Indian minister underscored that American firms had given a “very positive response” for co-development, co-production and investments in research and industry in India.
In a decade, starting from a negligible base, defence supplies from the US have exceeded $20 billion, which includes transport planes and howitzers.
Of late, a few US companies have expanded their local presence in partnership with Indian companies. Still, critical defence technology from the US remained elusive for the local firms despite New Delhi having signed all the foundational agreements--LEMOA, COMCASA, BECA and Industrial Security Annex, since 2016.
The US had cited safeguard issues on several occasions while conveying difficulties in transferring technology to “Major Defence Partner”— a tag Washington bestowed upon India in 2015.
However, the Indian government believes that banning the import of defence items will force foreign firms to set up a production line in India.
India has banned the import of 310 varieties of defence equipment since August 2020, which reflects the growing confidence of the Narendra Modi government in the capabilities of domestic industry to supply world-class equipment which meets the demands of the armed forces.
India has cancelled contracts worth over $8 billion in the last few months, which had been earmarked for purchasing defence items outright from foreign manufacturers.
On Wednesday, the Indian Defence Ministry announced that it had exceeded its target of spending 64 percent of the $18 billion capital acquisition budget on the domestic industry last year.