"The US-India defence relationship stands on its own. It is accelerating and advancing in terrific and exciting ways, both as it relates to defence industrial base cooperation as well as operational cooperation across the services," Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told reporters at a news conference here.
"It (the India-US defence ties) is a continuing growth area, even as the India-China relationship waxes and wanes," Ratner said in response to a question. India has been accorded the status of the Major Defence Partnership by the United States. Biden administration officials have described the defence ties as one of the key pillars of this relationship.
In October, India concluded an agreement with the US for the procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely-piloted aircraft and their associated equipment, which will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India's armed forces across all domains.
India and the US concluded the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) this year, enhancing the mutual supply of defence goods and services. During their meeting in September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Biden committed to advancing ongoing discussions on aligning their respective defence procurement systems to further enable the reciprocal supply of defence goods and services.
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