Rajnath Singh to visit US for 4 days, aims to deepen defence cooperation and strategic partnership

By Anish Kumar | First Published Aug 21, 2024, 12:24 PM IST

Apart from holding the bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Rajnath Singh is also scheduled to meet the US Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan.

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting on a 4-day official tour to the United States from Friday (August 23) to further deepen the bilateral defence cooperation and also broaden the the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between two largest democracies.

An official said that he is visiting to the United States on the invitation of his US counterpart Lloyd Austin.

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Apart from holding the bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Rajnath Singh is also scheduled to meet the US Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan.

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“Rajnath Singh will also chair a high-level roundtable meeting with the US defence industry on the ongoing and future defence collaborations.”

“He will also interact with the Indian community during the visit.”

In the recent years, the two countries have seen a significant cooperation in the defence sector. The two sides have been discussing for 31 MQ-9B ‘Predators’ drones and 99 GE-F414 jet engines for LCA Mk2 and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Recently, Rajnath Singh-headed Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) gave clearances, amending the percentage of indigenisation content in the drones. As per the reports, the indigenous content is reduced to 30 per cent and also withdrew the idea of putting DRDO-developed missile systems on the predators.

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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which makes light combat aircraft Tejas Mk1A, has been facing delay in supply of GE-404 jet engines, which has subsequently led to delay in delevering the fighters to the Indian Air Force. However, the issue was raised with the US side and it is being believed that Rajnath Singh also emphasise on its urgent requirements.

It must be noted that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has left for Poland and war-torn Ukraine on Wednesday, two days before Rajnath Singh’s visit to the US.

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