Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

In the backdrop of the approaching United States-India Strategic Dialogue meetings in New Delhi this spring, the 11th U.S.-India Defence Policy Group (DPG) met in Washington during March 3-4 for extensive discussion on strengthening bilateral defence ties, particularly in the areas of maritime security, counterterrorism, disaster relief, and personnel exchanges.

According to officials at the Indian embassy here the meetings were co-chaired by Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Defence Secretary, Government of India and Michelle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy. Officials said that Mr. Kumar also met William Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and William Lynn, Deputy Secretary of Defence.

Reaffirming that the bilateral defence cooperation was an “important facet of the overall India-U.S. strategic partnership,” Mr. Kumar and Ms. Flournoy expressed satisfaction at the progress in this area, noting in particular the increasing number of joint exercises that the two armed forces held regularly. Additionally India’s procurement of defence equipment such as C-130J aircraft was an important aspect of this progress, officials said.

In a statement Indian embassy also said that both sides had “welcomed the removal of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Dynamics Limited from the U.S. Entities List,” especially as this relaxation of restrictions would likely open up new opportunities for cooperation in the field of defence supplies and industrial and technological cooperation between the two countries more generally.

During the meetings the reports of four sub-groups of the DPG were reviewed and a policy-level dialogue was held on the global strategic and security situation.

On broader regional themes both sides touched upon the multilateral security architecture in Asia and looked forward to continued cooperation in regional organisations, officials said, explaining that the two sides had agreed that the next DPG meetings would be held in New Delhi early next year.