US defense technologies for India - Fusion - WeRIndia

According to a senior official from the Obama administration, India will be the only country outside US’ formal treaty allies to receive access to almost 99% of latest America’s defense technologies. This access is being granted after US recognized India as a ‘Major Defense Partner’.

The official said that India will now have the same access to US defense as US’ treaty allies. He said that India received a very unique status as it is the only country outside US formal treaty allies with such access. This ‘Major Defense Partner‘ status puts India in a unique position.

India received ‘Major Defense Partner’ status after a meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House recently. It was announced in a joint statement.

The official added that the US was looking for something unique and gave this status to India. He said that there has never been such a relation any of their arms transfer legislation or their existing policies. He continued that this new system reflects the unique things that the US and India did together under the defense partnership.

With the new status, India would have license-free access to many dual-use technologies which fits the commitment New Delhi has taken to advance its export control objectives.

The official did acknowledge the impression in New Delhi that India is not getting proper access to the technology it needs from US. He said that this matter is discussed a lot.

He said that only one per cent of all exports requests are denied to India. Even those are denied because of global US licensing policies and not because of India, says the official. These are technologies that the US does not share with anybody in the world, added the official. Of course, the perception in India is that such denial reflects lack of transparency in the India-US relations.

Image credit: PM Narendra Modi with the President of the United States, Barack Obama image by Narendra Modi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/narendramodiofficial/26236372331/