India, US Signal Two Key Offers As Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Visits Washington

India and the US have signed two key agreements as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh started his official go to to Washington to additional increase the great world strategic partnership between the 2 nations.

The agreements signed on Thursday pertain to the Safety of Provides Association (SOSA) and a Memorandum of Settlement concerning the Task of Liaison Officers.

”Two vital paperwork have been signed in Washington DC as Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh’s go to to the US begins. Senior defence officers from each side concluded the Safety of Provides Association (SOSA), and Memorandum of Settlement concerning the Task of Liaison Officers,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) shared in a publish on X on Friday, together with some images of the occasion.

Singh arrived right here on Thursday on a four-day go to to the US. The US and India entered right into a ”bilateral, non-binding Safety of Provide Association (SOSA)”, the US Division of Defence (DoD) mentioned in a press launch on Thursday. By way of this SOSA, the US and India agree to offer reciprocal precedence assist for items and companies that promote nationwide defence.

The Association will allow each nations to accumulate the commercial assets they want from each other to resolve unanticipated provide chain disruptions to satisfy nationwide safety wants, it mentioned. The SOSA was signed by Dr Vic Ramdass, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Industrial Base Coverage, on behalf of the US, and Samir Kumar Sinha, Extra Secretary and Director Normal (Acquisitions), on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

”This Safety of Provide Association represents a pivotal second within the US-India Main Defence Associate relationship and can be a key think about strengthening the US-India Defence Know-how and Commerce Initiative (DTTI),” mentioned Ramdass. “I look ahead to OUSD(A&S) internet hosting the subsequent DTTI assembly this fall to deepen cooperation between our respective defence industrial bases and pursue bilateral co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment initiatives,” he mentioned.

Within the Association, the US and India decide to assist each other’s precedence supply requests for procurement of essential nationwide defence assets. The US will present India assurances beneath the US Defence Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS), with programme determinations by DoD and ranking authorisation by the Division of Commerce (DOC).

India will in flip set up a government-industry Code of Conduct with its industrial base, the place Indian companies will voluntarily comply with make each affordable effort to offer the US precedence assist, the discharge mentioned. With an increasing world provide chain for DOD, SOSAs are an vital mechanism for DoD to strengthen interoperability with US defence commerce companions.

The Preparations institute working teams, set up communication mechanisms, streamline DoD processes, and proactively act to allay anticipated provide chain points in peacetime, emergency, and armed battle. They’re additionally a useful gizmo in creating funding methods to make sure redundancy and safety, it mentioned.

India is the 18th SOSA companion of the US. Different SOSA companions embrace Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – PTI)