Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said the Indo-US talks involving US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will be held at New Delhi on April 12, which would work towards identifying more military technologies for co-development and production under the bilateral Defence Technology and Trade Initiative.
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But India, which has never carried out joint patrols with another country, said there were no such plans.
But deeper security cooperation has been tricky, because India has for more than 10 years demurred at signing three “foundational” defence agreements that would streamline military interactions. While he plans to visit a few churches too, on Monday, he will be hosted over lunch by Parrikar in the Admiral’s dining cabin on board the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier, the Russian Federation made INS Vikramaditya off Karwar.
India is planning to increase its naval fleet from 130 to 166 ships, including adding a third aircraft carrier, a senior Indian defense official said in a background briefing with reporters traveling with the defense secretary. He said, India and United States interests overlap in many important ways. “We are long past the point in USA policy-making where we look at the India-Pakistan dyad as the whole story for either one of them”.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter being greeted by Indian officials on his arrival at Debolim airport in Goa on Sunday. India is keener on F/A-18 Super Hornets manufactured by Boeing than the F-16s manufactured by Lockheed Martin, a government official said, requesting anonymity.
Carter, touring India for a second time in a year, said his visit is significant “because India and the US are doing many activities together to help secure this part of the world and other parts of the world”. Ours are two great nations that share a great deal: “Democratic governments, multi-ethnic and multicultural societies with a commitment to individual freedom and inclusivity, and growing innovative, open economies”.
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While describing Pakistan as “an important security partner”, he said, “We have a big set of issues having to do with the border with Afghanistan, where we continue to operate; with terrorism, both on the territory of Pakistan and also obviously cross-border into Afghanistan, including affecting U.S. service members there”.
