NEW DELHI: Even as the Obama administration is on its way out and the newly-elected President Donald Trump gets set to take over the reigns of the country at the White House, the outgoing American Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited New Delhi on Friday to expand the bilateral defence cooperation between both the nations and take it to the next level, reports the Indian media.
\nCarter met his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar and declared that India is a \u2018major defence partner\u2019. Carter met Parrikar for the record seventh time, a fact he himself pointed out.During their meeting at South Block, Carter thanked \u2018friend\u2019 Parrikar and added, \u201cHe is the defence minister with whom I have met for the maximum number of times.\u201d
\nCarter went on to underline the significance the US attaches to its ties with India and said, \u201cToday our defence relationship takes a major step as we designate India as a major defence partner.\u201d
\nThis has come quickly in the wake of a US Congress panel, on November 30, ordering Carter and the Secretary of State to ensure recognition of India as US\u2019s major defence partner to boost the bilateral security cooperation. The Congressional report that has been chalked out asked both these officials to assess the extent to which India possesses capabilities to support and carry out military operations of mutual interest.
\nOn his part, Parrikar said, \u201cIt is not an exaggeration that our defence relations are a major driver in our bilateral relations.\u201d And averred that India recognises the fact that Carter\u2019s conceptualisation of the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) has indicated his interest in boosting the two nations\u2019 bilateral defence cooperation.
\nParrikar highlighted Carter\u2019s contribution by saying, \u201cI am confident that the defence cooperation will expand on the foundation you have built\u201d. To this, Carter replied, \u201cI am proud of what we have achieved my friend\u201d.
\nThe joint statement issued after the meeting said, \u201cToday we finalized India\u2019s designation as a \u2018Major Defense Partner\u2019 of the United States. The designation as a \u2018Major Defense Partner\u2019 is a status unique to India and institutionalizes the progress made to facilitate defense trade and technology sharing with India to a level at par with that of the United States\u2019 closest allies and partners, and ensures enduring cooperation into the future.\u201d
\nThe joint statement also highlighted India\u2019s concerns on terror. It specifically said that, \u201cThey (the two countries) agreed to continue further strengthening the bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation and underlined the need to ensure that terror groups receive no patronage from any State\u201d.
\nHowever, this is not the end of the road for the process as it still needs to be passed by the two chambers of the Congress \u2013 the House of Representatives and Senate \u2013 and then it has to be signed by US President Barack Obama to turn it into a law.
\nJoint Statement on Carter\u2019s visit: US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter made an official visit to India at the invitation of Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar today, marking the seventh interaction between the two leaders. Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the tremendous progress made in bilateral defense ties and discussed the immense promise for the future of India-US security cooperation.
\nBoth sides exchanged views on regional security issues including the threat posed by terrorism. They agreed to continue further strengthening the bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation and underlined the need to ensure that terror groups receive no patronage from any State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI: Even as the Obama administration is on its way out and the newly-elected President Donald Trump gets set to take over the reigns of the country at the White House, the outgoing American Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited New Delhi on Friday to expand the bilateral defence cooperation between both the nations and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n