CHENNAI, India — Over the last decade, India has been the world’s largest importer of aircraft, ships and other military gear, most of it from Russia.

It is a dependence that the Indian government is eager to shed — and the United States wants to help.

In fits and starts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to build up a homegrown defense industry that can supply more of India’s needs and even export weapons to other nations. The government in New Delhi is encouraging foreign defense companies seeking contracts from India to partner with local firms and share technology with them.

The Trump administration has supported India’s efforts to get American technology, hoping to strengthen ties with a country it considers a key counterweight to China in the region, while diminishing Russia’s influence. Major American defense contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin are also gung-ho, seeing the chance to win billions of dollars in business from a country that has historically chosen Russian and European suppliers.