At the U.S.-India Business Council’s gala in Washington, D.C. Frank Kendall, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics discussed the Defense Trade and Technology Initiative which is part of a broader effort to build the United States’ relationship with India.
At its core, the initiative is an effort to streamline the approval process for release of technology to India, Kendall said. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Kendall journeyed to India in August and both men came back excited over the possibilities of the initiative with India. “It was very clear to Secretary Hagel and to myself that a new wind was blowing in India — the monsoon had changed direction and intensity,” Kendall said.
India will work to finalize approval of the renewal of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Memorandum of Agreement so it can be signed next month. The United States has set aside $20 million for strategic cooperative science and technology projects with India. The two nations agreed “to identify specific co-development and co-production opportunities,” and to develop specific science and technology projects, Kendall said.
Kendall emphasized that the initiative is not just an attempt to sell U.S. defense products to India. It is, he said, one facet “to build a deeper, closer, and broader relationship with one of the most important countries on Earth.”
