Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday praised American conglomerate General Electric's (GE) recent decision to co-produce fighter planes in India.
Modi termed the development a "milestone for India's defense sector".
"The decision of General Electric Company to manufacture fighter planes in India will prove to be a milestone for India's defense sector."
Modi's comments regarding GE's move came a day after the US company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to jointly manufacture the F414 engines at the Indian defense major's facilities in the South Asian country.
"The agreement includes the potential joint production of GE Aerospace's F414 engines in India. The effort is part of the Indian Air Force's Light Combat Aircraft Mk2 program," the American firm said in a statement on Thursday.
The partnership between GE and HAL is significant for India's defense sector as New Delhi doesn't have the expertise to build military aircraft engines in the country.
Moreover, this would give a renewed push to India's efforts to locally manufacture fighter jets, especially when Modi wants to cut New Delhi's expensive military imports from foreign nations.
According to a report published by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) earlier this year, India is the world's largest importer of defense products and has an 11 percent share in global arms sales.