Washington
\nThe United States and India will co-develop drones, a senior Pentagon official said Thursday, as Washington seeks closer ties with Delhi as a way of countering China. India will build these aircraft and export them to other countries in its region, this official said.
\nDelhi wants to diversify its weaponry, which is mainly Russian-made, and also to develop its own defense industry. \u201cIn practical terms, that means that we\u2019re going to be working closely with India on co-producing and co-developing capabilities that will support India\u2019s own defense modernization goals,\u201d Ratner said.
\nIndia can then \u201cexport to our partners across the region, including in South and Southeast Asia at affordable price points.\u201d
\nRatner cited the possibility of developing drones launched from airplanes and anti-drone defense systems.
\nHe also said the Pentagon is considering in the near and medium term \u201copportunities to co-produce major capabilities,\u201d but did not say which ones.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re having good conversations with our counterparts in the Indian government at the highest levels about our respective priorities in that regard, and we hope to have more to announce on this front before too long,\u201d Ratner said.
\nTies between the United States and India were troubled for many years, but their shared wariness of an aggressive China brought the countries closer together under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former president Donald Trump.
\nIn 2016, the United States designated India as a \u201cmajor defense partner,\u201d and since then, the two countries have signed agreements that facilitate transfers of top-grade arms and deepen military cooperation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington The United States and India will co-develop drones, a senior Pentagon official said Thursday, as Washington seeks closer ties with Delhi as a way of countering China. India will build these aircraft and export them to other countries in its region, this official said. Delhi wants to diversify its weaponry, which is mainly Russian-made, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n