India, US Sign Statement of intent To Strengthen Dialogue on Defence Tech Cooperation
The agreement was signed by Raj Kumar Secretary, Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, and Ellen M. Lord (US Under Secretary of Defence).
To further improve their defence cooperation, India and the US (The two largest democracy countries) on Tuesday signed a statement of intent, which they have declared their intention “to strengthen dialogue on defence technology cooperation by pursuing detailed planning and making measurable progress” on several specific Deference Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) projects. On Sep 15, the agreement was signed at end of the DTTI Group meeting that was held Virtually due to the Coronavirus pandemic, as per an official statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Mr. Raj Kumar (Secretary, Defence Production) and Ellen M. Lord (US Under Secretary of Defence) co-chaired the meeting, during which the groups gave details to co-chairs ongoing activates activities and collaborative opportunities, including several near-term projects targeted for completion on importance.
The DTTI meetings are held twice in a year that intent to bring sustained leadership focus to bilateral defence trade relations & co-development and co-production of defence equipment. Four joint working groups focused on several things like land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies, these are established under the DTTI Group to promote mutually-agreed projects within their domains.
Throughout the meeting, the co-chairs noted that since the last DTTI 9th Meeting was held on October 24, 2019, A DTTI SOP (Statement of Procedure) for identification and development of cooperative projects under DTTI Group has been accomplished. The SOP will serve as the framework for DTTI and allow both side countries to reach and document a mutual understanding on how to describe and get success.
“Further efforts to encourage the US and Indian Industry to cooperatively develop next-generation technologies under the DTTI Group were highlighted by the 1st DTTI Industry Collaboration Forum (DICF), which took place virtually Sept 10, 2020 ”
The DICF was convened by Sanjay Jaju, Joint Secretary (Defence Industries Production), Michael Vaccaro, Director, International Armaments Cooperation, and Amy Murray, Director, Small Business Programs.
“This forum offers an opportunity for Indian and US Industry to be directly involved in DTTI and facilitates dialogue between government and industry on issues that impact industrial collaboration. The results of the discussion were briefed to the DTTI Group co-chairs,” added The Pentagon.
