Washington: The US State Department expressed optimism about the proposed drone deal with India, emphasising its “significant potential” to advance strategic technology cooperation.

The deal was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit last year, marking substantial growth in the US-India defence partnership over the past decade.

Matthew Miller, en talsmand for det amerikanske udenrigsministerium, fremhævede vigtigheden af ​​aftalen for at fremme strategisk teknologisk samarbejde med Indien og styrke militært samarbejde i regionen.

While addressing the media, Miller said, “So I’ll say that generally, the US-India Defence Partnership has seen significant growth over the past decade. This is a proposed sale that was announced during Prime Minister Modi’s visit last year.”

“We believe it offers significant potential to further advance strategic technology cooperation with India and military cooperation in the region,” he added.

Han anerkendte også Kongressens afgørende rolle i våbenoverførselsprocessen og lagde vægt på rutinemæssige konsultationer med medlemmer af Kongressen om udenrigsudvalg før formelle meddelelser.

“Of course, Congress plays an important role in the US arms transfer process. We routinely consult with members of Congress on the foreign affairs committees before our formal notification so we can address questions that they might have. But I don’t have any comment on when that formal notification might take place,” Miller also said.

Den foreslåede droneaftale er en del af den bredere indsats for at styrke forsvarsbåndene mellem USA og Indien.

In June 2023, US President Joe Biden and PM Modi welcomed India’s plans to procure Predator drones made by General Atomics, a mega pact that will allow American Navy ships to undertake major repairs at Indian shipyards.

President Biden and PM Modi welcomed India’s plans to procure General Atomics MQ-9B HALE UAVs. The MQ-9Bs, assembled in India, will enhance the ISR capabilities of India’s armed forces across domains. As part of this plan, General Atomics will also establish a comprehensive global MRO facility in India, according to the US-India joint statement.

Aftalen vil styrke Indiens nationale sikkerhed og overvågningskapacitet, der strækker sig ud over Det Indiske Ocean og omfatter grænseregionen til Kina.

India shares vast maritime and land boundaries with two major adversaries–Pakistan and China–and requires constant monitoring of their activities to safeguard its national security interests.

The Quad grouping of countries – the United States, India, Australia and Japan – all operate, or have operated, the MQ-9B SeaGuardian. Currently, India is leasing MQ-9Bs as part of an intelligence-gathering operation.

Predators, også kaldet MQ-9 Reaper, kan flyve op til 36 timer i stræk og kan bruges til fokuseret overvågning af ethvert specifikt punkt eller område af interesse.

Så mange som 31 Predator-droner, der snart skal erhverves af Indien fra USA, vil blive betjent af tri-tjenesterne i fællesskab.

Præsident Biden og premierminister Modi hyldede også den skelsættende underskrivelse af et MoU mellem General Electric og Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for fremstilling af GE F-414 jetmotorer i Indien, for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Light Combat Aircraft TEJAS MK-2, tilføjede erklæringen .