US Defence Secretary Austin lands in India, set to discuss free and open Indo-Pacific with Rajnath
India TV NewsUS Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in India on Sunday on a two-day visit to explore ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, especially in areas of transfer of critical technologies for the co-development of military hardware. Austin to meet Defence Minister Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Austin are set to discuss in their talks on Monday General Electric's proposal to share technology with India for fighter jet engines and New Delhi's plan to procure 30 MQ-9B armed drones at a cost of over USD 3 billion from US defence major General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc besides other issues, people familiar with the matter said. In June 2016, the US designated India a "Major Defence Partner" paving the way for sharing of critical military equipment and technology. In his address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, the US defence secretary said, "Our Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology with India lets us explore new ways to co-develop key defence platforms."