NEW DELHI: India and the US have decided to push ahead with their discussions on joint development and production of futuristic military systems, ahead of the first “two-plus-two” dialogue between defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and foreign minister Sushma Swaraj with their American counterparts, Jim Mattis and Mike Pompeo, to be held here in early-November.

This emerged during the seventh meeting of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), co-chaired by defence production secretary Ajay Kumar and his US counterpart, undersecretary of defence for acquisition and sustainment Ellen M Lord, here on Wednesday.

The earlier projects proposed by the US under DTTI were quite modest in nature despite India looking for “unique and transformative military technologies” to give its armed forces a decisive edge over its rivals.

Since then, the US has offered India a tri-lateral venture with Israel to develop futuristic infantry combat vehicles, as also participation in its “future vertical-lift (FVL) aircraft” programme for five different helicopters under the DTTI, as first reported by TOI.

Lord, on her part, on Wednesday said Washington expected the defence relationship between the two countries to “be further strengthened” after the US designated India a “Major Defence Partner”. “DTTI is an important forum leading to the two-plus-two dialogue,” she said.

An Indian official said the different joint working groups established under the DTTI had made considerable progress in their discussions.

“On the land systems front and on projects under the DRDO, both sides have identified projects where scope of co-production/co-development of systems exists. “DTTI meeting has great significance for defence cooperation in trade and technology,” he added.

Already among the top arms suppliers to India with sales worth $15 billion over the last decade, the US remains eager to grab more lucrative defence deals and joint co-development projects in the lucrative Indian market.

