NEW DELHI : In order to speed up its defence ties with India, US defence department Pentagon has established a first-ever country special cell, which will work as single window to accelerate the process of co-development and co-production of hi-tech military equipment in the country, as part of the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative(DTTI).
The special arrangement, which has been named as India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) is headed by Mr Keith Webster, Director, and International Cooperation Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, sources in the Defence Ministry said here.
The development comes at time when the US-India bilateral defence relationship has grown in a robust manner from a mere $200 million in defence trade in 2000 to over $14 billion.
US defence major Boeing was recently awarded a $3 billion contract from the Defence for production, training and support of 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.
The order includes options to further buy 11 Apache and 7 Chinook helicopters. These aircraft are being acquired by the Indian Government on Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) basis while their weapon systems like radars and missiles would be through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route from the US Government.
A high-level delegation from the Defense is on a visit the US for bilateral meetings with the US Department of Defence to discuss progress on joint initiatives such as the US-India DTTI.
The US is upbeat by India’s recent announcements on FDI policy reforms in defence, which, among other things also allow FDI up to 49% under the automatic route and beyond that through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board?s (FIPB) approval.
By doing away with the earlier requirement of mandatory permission from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on FDI beyond 49%, the Government has attempted to streamlining the decision making process and improving the ease of doing business.
Since US President Barack Obama’s visit India in January 2015, both countries signed the 2015 framework for the US-India defence relationship that builds upon the previous framework and successes to guide the bilateral defence and strategic partnership between both countries over the next ten years. (Agencies)
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