Article Posted on : - Oct 12, 2021

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The 16th meeting of the India-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) took place in Washington on Friday to review the progress on various defence cooperation issues between the two countries, the defence ministry said.

During the meeting, both sides shared regional security perspectives and agreed to cooperate "to work together to promote shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region", according to a statement issued by the ministry on Saturday.

The DPG meeting was co-chaired by Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, the statement said.

"The DPG is the apex official-level mechanism between the Ministry of Defence of India and the US Department of Defense to comprehensively review and guide all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation," it said.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress in military-to-military engagements, implementation of foundational defence agreements, defence exercises, strengthening technology cooperation and defence trade, the statement added.

The co-chairs took stock of the joint project to co-develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under the defence technology and trade initiative, it noted.

The two sides also welcomed the holding of the inaugural Industrial Security Agreement meeting in India to facilitate high-end defence industrial collaboration, according to the statement.

"They agreed to encourage both the private and government stakeholders to utilise the existing innovation ecosystems in defence industries for co-development and co-production," the defence ministry said.

Both sides welcomed the cooperation in new domains such as space, artificial intelligence, cyber and counter-unmanned aerial vehicle technologies, it mentioned.

"The two sides reviewed preparation for the forthcoming 2+2 ministerial dialogue. It was agreed to hold the next DPG meeting in India on mutually convenient dates," it stated.

The 2+2 dialogue takes place between the defence ministers and the foreign ministers of both sides.