Defence
India, US Discuss Signing Two Additional Pacts Allowing Access To US Defence Markets; Will Help Achieve $5 Billion Weapons Export Target
An Indian soldier salutes as he rides an Akash weapon system of air defence during India’s Republic Day parade in New Delhi (representative image) (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
India and the United States are discussing signing two agreements to allow Indian companies better access to US defence markets.
These discussions are happening on the sidelines of the four-day 'state' visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US.
The two agreements under discussions are Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) and Reciprocal Defence Procurement Agreement (RDP).
Both these agreements, according to an ET report, will allow Indian companies better access to be a part of the supply chain of major US defence manufacturing companies.
This will also allow India to achieve its export target of $5 billion by 2025, which the Government of India (GOI) has identified to boost defence manufacturing in India.
After signing these agreements, "Indian private companies will be qualified as suppliers and contractors for US Department of Defence (DoD) orders".
The agreement according to the report, "will also open doors for the manufacturing sector in terms of orders for casting and other components made of steel, copper, nickel, titanium and zirconium needed for US military orders, co-aligning the defence manufacturing ecosystems of the two countries".
Pushan Das the director of Aerospace and Defence, US-India Business Council said, "the new defence industrial roadmap and associated agreements will see Indian companies getting the opportunity to more comprehensively plug into the US defence industrial base".
"There are signals from both governments that there will be significant movement on tech releasability issues, accelerating the US-India defence cooperation," he adds.
The signing of the agreements will take some time, but after the signing the Indian companies will be able to take advantage of the certification and increase their exports to US major defence companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing.
It is worth noting that the US is the biggest spender towards it military and Indian private defence companies wants a pie of it.
