Rajnath Singh’s US Visit Inks Deeper Maritime Cooperation Between the Two Nations

In a four-day US visit starting August 22, defence minister Rajnath Singh packed in two bilateral engagements–with secretary of defence Lloyd Austin and national security advisor Jake Sullivan–; signed two agreements, Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA) and Memorandum of Agreement on Assignment of Liaison Officers; witnessed an experiment at Naval Surface Warfare Centre; and addressed the Indian Diaspora.

In a meeting with Austin in Pentagon, Washington DC on August 23, Singh discussed bilateral defence cooperation, industrial collaboration through co-development and co-production opportunities in India in the areas identified in the India-US Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, which was adopted last year, in addition to regional security issues. However, the highlight of the conversation was the conclusion of SOSA between India and US the previous day. The SOSA would encourage the defence industrial ecosystems of both countries to work together and enhances the supply chain resilience. The memorandum of agreement on Assignment of Liaison Officers (signed alongside SOSA) also came up for discussion. Singh informed Austin that India will be deploying its first liaison officer to the Headquarters Special Operations Command in Florida, US.

Both ministers also appreciated the progress made in operationalising the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness, a Quad initiative and lauded the ongoing efforts by India to enhance the Maritime Domain Awareness for the partners in the Indian Ocean Region. They welcomed the ongoing Indian participation in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and noted that India shall deploy Indian Navy personnel in CMF’s Combined Task Force 150 headquarters in 2025.

The defence minister and secretary Austin commended the efforts of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) for establishing the defence innovation bridge between the two countries. They appreciated INDUS-X establishing robust networks across start-ups, industry, academia, and governments, accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and enhancing war-fighting capabilities of both sides. The upcoming INDUS X Silicon Valley Summit in September 2024 shall witness announcements of several key initiatives.

Also on August 23, Singh met the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House. They deliberated on the evolving geopolitical situation and certain key regional security issues. They also discussed the ongoing defence industrial collaboration projects between India and US, and potential areas where the industries of the two countries could work together.

The minister emphasised that India welcomes US investment and technology collaboration, and is ready with a skilled human resource base, robust pro-FDI and pro-business ecosystem, and large domestic market. Singh told Sullivan that India looks forward to closely working with the US across the domains of defence for capability building and for technology & industrial partnership which can address emerging challenges.

Earlier the same day, Singh interacted with the senior leadership of US defence companies in Washington DC in an industry round table organised by US India Strategic Partnership Forum. He outlined the various emerging co-development and co-production opportunities in the defence sector in India. Many foreign original equipment manufacturers, including from the US, have set up manufacturing units in India through joint ventures with the idea of making India their alternate export base. The planned co-production of GE 414 aero-engines in India will be a significant milestone in India-US bilateral relations.

Speaking at the round table, Singh said that ‘partnership’ and ‘joint efforts’ are the two keywords that differentiate India’s defence industry partnership with other nations. The round table was attended by senior leadership from prominent US defence and technology companies such as Boeing, GE, General Atomics, General Dynamics Land Systems, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Rolls Royce, and ThayerMahan. In addition, few Indian companies such as ideaForge, Tata Sons and Tsecond, along with senior leaders from The Cohen Group also attended the session.

Singh’s visit concluded on August 25, by a visit to the William B Morgan Large Cavitation Channel (LCC) in the Naval Surface Warfare Centre (NSWC) at Memphis, Tennessee. The LCC is one of the world’s largest and most technically-advanced water tunnel facility for testing submarines, torpedoes, naval surface ships and propellers. The defence minister witnessed an actual tunnel experiment during his visit. He was accompanied by ambassador of India to the US, Director General Naval Operations from the Indian Navy and DRDO Defence Technology Counsellor, among others. He was received by the US Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy for Policy. The discussions dwelled on the US support to the establishment of a similar facility for indigenous design and development in India.

Earlier, upon his arrival on August 22, Rajnath Singh interacted with Indian diaspora in Washington. In his address, while describing India and US as natural allies, which are destined to be strong partners, he told the gathering that together India and the US are a formidable force which can ensure peace, prosperity and stability in the world.

Singh re-asserted the fact that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s stature has grown on the global stage. “Earlier, India’s words at international fora were not heeded; but today, the whole world listens carefully,” he said.

He pointed out that before 2014, India was among the ‘Fragile Five’ nations, as coined by investment firm Morgan Stanley, and today it finds itself among the ‘Fabulous Five’ economies of the world. He cited the firm’s recent report, which says that India will become the third largest economy by 2027. He stressed that the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic ensured that the Indian economy was not adversely impacted as compared to other countries.

Singh highlighted the fact that the government has successfully brought 25 crore people above poverty line. He added that as per latest data, retail inflation fell to a five-year low of 3.54 per cent and foreign exchange reserves have reached an all-time high of USD 675 billion.

The defence minister enumerated the steps taken by the government to achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, including the notification of Positive Indigenisation Lists comprising over 5,000 items. He emphasised that the consistent efforts are being made to ensure that state-of-the-art defence items are manufactured on Indian soil by domestic companies.

Singh told his audience that the defence exports, which were Rs 600 crore before the current government came to power, have now risen significantly to over Rs 21,000 crore. He added that due to the measures taken to promote innovation, the number of start-ups in the country have rapidly increased to 1.20 lakh from around 400 in 2014. He credited these achievements to the willpower along with the policies and planning of the government. The defence minister concluded the address by urging the Indian community in the US to work with honesty and dedication, in line with the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is one family).