Article Posted on : - Sep 19, 2013

NEW DELHI (PTI): Seeking to boost defence ties with India, the US has said it wishes to replicate the Russian model of cooperation under which military hardware is developed jointly.

"Yes, that is exactly the same kind of thing where two industry teams are involved in whole product life cycle where the product is both co-produced and developed. That is a new way for the US and India. We do not have the history that Russia does. We are trying to replicate that...," US Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter said here on Wednesday.

He was asked if the joint venture proposals in defence production offered to India by the US were on the lines of the successful Indian-Russian BrahMos Aerospace Company, which produces the world's only supersonic cruise missile.

Seventy per cent of India's military hardware is of Russian origin but American companies have also made inroads by selling equipment worth over USD 10 billion to India in the last decade.

Carter said that for over several decades, Indian and American defence systems and bureaucracies were segregated and therefore, there was a need to overcome these issues.

He said during meetings with Indian officials, the US has offered several joint venture and co-development military hardware projects such as the Javelin anti-tank guided missile, equipment for aircraft carriers, transport aircraft and battlefield systems.

He said the proposals are under consideration of the Indian government and some of them such as the Javelin missile would enable India to co-produce and co-develop it and also export it.

Asked if the US was ignoring the frameworks of fundamental defence agreements such as CISMOA, BECA and LSA for doing business with India, Carter said, "We are not ignoring them but we are working around so that they do not become obstacles.

"Obviously, we would like these to be concluded but we needed to get on with the work. We are trying to succeed in doing practical things together even though India has not shown keenness to sign these agreements," he said.

Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA), Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) and Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) are the US arrangements for enhancing defence ties with other countries.

Carter said during his talks with Indian defence officials including the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, the US side tried to do away with the "mis-perceptions" in the Indian establishment on its willingness to share hi-end technology with it.

"We had decided to work on the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTI) in coordination with Indian counterparts and streamline our bureaucratic processes to make them more simple, responsive and effective. We want to move from vendor-buyer relationship to one with co-production," he said.

The American Deputy Defence Secretary said the two sides now have a clear mandate to find solutions to hurdles in our defence relationship. "For example, we found a way to greater assurance to the likely extent of technology transfer prior to license request which facilitates the initiation of co-production projects."

Carter said India would also become only the third country after the UK and Australia where the US researchers would be provided priority funding for critical technology projects in association with Indian partners.

"Such a thing is available only to the UK and Australia. India would be the third country on the list," he said.

The visiting American defence official said the US has a a multifaceted relationship with India under which it holds "discussions over regional security, tri-lateral issues with Japan and has an increasing defence trade".

Carter asserted that the US wants to be a provider of all military needs of India to help it meet its security challenges.

He said his government would also encourage private industries of the two countries to engage with each other to take forward their defence partnership.

Carter also visited the Air Force Base in Hindon near here where he was briefed about the operations of the IAF's American origin C-130J and C-17 transport aircraft.