• U.S.-India Business Council strongly supports legislation that recognizes India’s status as a major defense partner of the United States and facilitates additional co-production/co-development and trade.

Washington, DC. 11 May, 2016. On May 9th, Senator Mark Warner (D- VA) and John Coryn (R-TX) , Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, introduced S. 2901, the U.S.-India Defense Technology and Partnership Act.

This legislation institutionalizes the U.S. government’s focus on the U.S.-India security relationship while sending a powerful signal to New Delhi that the United States is a reliable and dependable defense partner.  For the United states, it encourages the executive branch to: designate an official to focus on US-India defense cooperation, facilitate the transfer of defense technology, maintain a special office in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to the U.S.-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), enhance India’s military capabilities in the context of combined military planning, and promote co-production/co-development opportunities.

For India, it encourages the government to authorize combined military planning with the United States for missions of mutual interest such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter piracy, and maritime domain awareness. The bill also puts India on par with America’s closest defense partners, including NATO members and Israel, for the purpose of congressional defense sales notifications.

“I applaud Senator Warner and Coryn’s leadership in introducing this bill in the Senate. The commercial and security imperatives for a robust defense partnership between the U.S. and India could not be clearer. Defense trade has risen from some $300 million to over $14 billion over the last 10 years and there is every reason to expect it to rise further. USIBC strongly supports this bill and encourages widespread support in the Senate,” said USIBC President Mukesh Aghi.

“As an important partner with a flourishing economy, India has huge potential as a market for American defense manufacturers, which support millions of American jobs. This bill supports strengthening our bilateral relationship, particularly in defense, and bestows upon India the status it deserves as a partner in promoting security in Asia and around the world,” said Senator Warner.