Growing India-US defence ties cover “all areas of human endeavour”, says Rajnath Singh

India and the United States look forward to working together and benefiting from each other’s experiences, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said, while visiting a top American naval surface warfare facility in Maryland. The growing bilateral defence co-operation covered “all areas of human endeavour”, he said.

Singh is in the US on a four-day official visit to further boost the comprehensive global strategic partnership between the US and India.

“Visited the Naval Surface Warfare Centre at Carderock and witnessed the pathbreaking experiments at the facility,” Singh said in a post on X.

“India and the US look forward to work[ing] together and benefit[ing] from each other’s experiences,” he wrote after the Saturday visit.

Earlier during the visit, Singh met the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

Austin praised the momentum behind the US-India relationship during the meeting with Singh. He noted the two countries’ increased co-operation on a range of defence issues, including efforts to strengthen critical supply chains and interoperability between their militaries.

“We share a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and our defence co-operation continues to grow stronger and stronger,” said Austin. “We’re expanding our defence industrial ties and working to co-produce more capabilities and strengthen supply chain resilience,” he said.

The two countries had increased operational co-operation across all domains, said the American official, and highlighted Indian participation in this summer’s ‘Rim of the Pacific’, a large-scale exercise led by the US Navy in Hawaii that brought together 29 partner nations.

The Indian Navy remained an important security provider in the Indian Ocean, said Austin. “Indian sailors have helped mariners in distress and defended global commerce. So, we are committed to deepening naval co-operation, to doing more together with unmanned technology, and to strengthening undersea domain awareness,” he said.

With reference to the India-US defence co-operation covering “all areas of human endeavour”, Singh noted the robust people-to-people ties, shared democratic values, and the convergence of interests between the US and India on a range of issues.

The meeting between Austin and Singh came a day after the countries finalised an agreement aimed at mitigating unanticipated supply chain issues to meet national security needs.

Under the non-binding “security of supply” arrangement, the United States and India have agreed to provide priority support for goods and services that promote national defence.

“This security of supply arrangement represents a pivotal moment in the US-India major defence partner relationship and will be a key factor in strengthening the US-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative,” said Vic Ramdass, principal secretary of defence of the industrial base policy, in a statement.

“I look forward to [the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment] hosting the next [US-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative] meeting this fall to deepen co-operation between our respective defence industrial bases and pursue bilateral co-development, co-production and co-sustainment initiatives,” said Ramdass.

Blinken approves sale of High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare sonobuoys

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of Anti-Submarine Warfare Sonobuoys and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 52.8 million.

The Defence Security Co-operation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Friday.

The Government of India had requested to buy AN/SSQ-53G High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare (HAASW) sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-62F HAASW sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-36 sonobuoys; technical and publications and data documentation; US Government and contractor engineering and technical support and other related elements of logistics and programme services and support, the agency said in a statement.

This proposed sale would support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the United States-India strategic relationship, the statement said.

It would help in improving the security of a major defence partner, which continued to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions, it said.

The Defence Security Co-operation Agency statement said the following:

• The proposed sale will improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing its capacity to conduct anti-submarine warfare operations from its MH-60R helicopters.
• India will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.
• The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
• The principal contractor(s) will be Sparton Corporation, located in De Leon Springs, FL, or Undersea Sensor Systems Inc. (USSI), located in Columbia City or a combination of both.
• There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
• The implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional US government or contractor representatives to India.
• There will be no adverse impact on US defence readiness as a result of this proposed sale.