New Delhi: Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and US Defence companies have focussed on deeper cooperation in joint development and production of military platforms and as part of this, SIDM recently concluded their visit to the US with focus to further enhance the Defence cooperation between the two countries.
The delegation had interactions with the US Department of Defence, US Chamber of Commerce and the National Defence Industrial Association, USIBC and also US Aerospace giant Boeing Company.
Eight companies from the private sector including– MKU Ltd, Idea Forge Technologies Pvt Ltd, Larsen and Toubro, Investments and Precisions Castings Ltd, Newspace Research & Technologies Pvt Ltd, Rossell Techsys, Abhyuday Bharat Projects Pvt Ltd and Delta Combat Systems Pvt Ltd were part of the Indian delegation.
The maiden visit of the SIDM delegation from September 19-23, was led by Neeraj Gupta, Chairman, SIDM International and Exports Committee and Managing Director, MKU Ltd. They had meetings in Washington DC, with the Ambassador of India to the US Taranjit Sandhu, who gave his perspective on the India-US Defence Partnership.
Neeraj Gupta, Chairman, SIDM International and Exports Committee and Leader of the Delegation said “this being the first Industry-led delegation to the United States underscores the importance that SIDM places on India – US Defence Cooperation.”
“Our interactions with the US Chamber of Commerce, US Department of Defence and the National Defence Industrial Association highlighted the immense potential for our Industries to collaborate. SIDM will be working with these stakeholders to make sure our bilateral defence trade grows in the next few years,” Gupta added.
A roundtable discussion focused on India-US Defence Technology Collaboration. And during the meeting they also talked about how Indian companies can be part of the US Defence Supply Chain.
From the US side those present included US Chamber of Commerce and Ambassador Atul Keshap, President USIBC, Kieth Webster, President, Defence and Aerospace Council, Michael Vaccaro, Performing the Duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Industrial Base Policy, US Department of Defence; Terry Emmert, Principal Deputy, Deputy Chief Technology Officer of Mission Capabilities, Department of Defence.
Besides the eight Indian companies, others present in for the roundtable were Brig Anoop Shinghal, Defence Attache, Embassy of India, Washington and Rajiv Mishra, First Secretary (Political), Embassy of India, Washington.
Since the last few years to promote bilateral industrial cooperation between the two countries and defence industries on both sides, SIDM, has been working with the US Department of Defence and Ministry of Defence. There have been several interactions to help deepen relations. Earlier this year in March, Jesse Salazar Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Industrial Policy held an interaction with SIDM to lay out US DOD (Department of Defence) priorities vis-à-vis Indian Industry.
Among other meetings SIDM had included one with the National Defence Industrial Association (NDIA). This association represents around 1800 US Defence Companies and the talks were related to exploring collaborative opportunities between SIDM and NDIA members.
The delegates also visited Boeing Headquarters in Washington D.C; Aurora Flight Sciences, subsidiary of Boeing which primarily specializes in the design and construction of special-purpose Unmanned aerial vehicles.
The SIDM delegation also had interactions at Centre for a New American Security and Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.
