India and the United States may agree to the co-manufacturing of jet engines during the upcoming state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, local media reported on Thursday.
Under the reported jet engine deal, US’ General Electric (GE) and India’s state-backed Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will “co-manufacture” the GE-414 jet engines at a facility in India.
India has been seeking the jet engine technology to power its Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LAC) Mark 2 (MK2) program.
The Indian PM will formally kick off his US visit on June 21. He will be hosted by President Joe Biden for a banquet at the White House and will also address a joint sitting of the US Congress at Capitol Hill.
Biden’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan is currently in New Delhi to hold consultations with the Indian security establishment to enhance defense cooperation between the two nations amid growing convergence in their respective security policy outlook toward China.
While Washington has described China as a “pacing threat” and the most consequential security challenge, New Delhi and Beijing have been involved in a military standoff in the eastern Ladakh region since April-May 2020.
New Delhi has maintained that peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are a pre-requisite for advancing overall bilateral ties between the two Asian neighbors.
Sullivan indicated at a conference on Tuesday that a number of deliverables were on the cards during Modi’s upcoming visit.
“They are fundamentally designed to remove those obstacles in defense trading in high tech trade, in investment in each of our countries,” he said.
Sullivan held the second round of the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) dialogue with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on June 13.
The iCET seeks to advance bilateral defense cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and advanced wireless systems.