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Agence France-Presse

The United States and India will co-develop drones, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday, as Washington seeks closer ties with New Delhi as a way of countering China.
India will build these aircraft and export them to other countries in its region, this official said.
New Delhi wants to diversify its weaponry, which is mainly Russian-made, and also to develop its own defence industry.
“And we want to support India on both fronts and are doing so,” Eli Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told a group of reporters and defence experts.


“In practical terms, that means that we’re going to be working closely with India on co-producing and co-developing capabilities that will support India’s own defence modernisation goals,” Ratner said.
India can then “export to our partners across the region, including in South and Southeast Asia at affordable price points”.
Ratner cited the possibility of developing drones launched from planes and anti-drone defence systems.
He also said the Pentagon is considering in the near and medium term “opportunities to co-produce major capabilities”, but did not say which ones.
China-India relations remain chilly amid Jaishankar’s diplomatic barrage at UN
“We’re having good conversations with our counterparts in the Indian government at the highest levels about our respective priorities in that regard, and we hope to have more to announce on this front before too long,” Ratner said.
Ties between the United States and India were troubled for many years, but their shared wariness of an aggressive China brought the countries closer together under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former president Donald Trump.
In 2016, the United States designated India as a “major defence partner”, and since then, the two countries have signed agreements that facilitate transfers of top-grade arms and deepen military cooperation.


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US-China relations

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A US MQ-1B Predator drone is seen during a training mission in Nevada in May 2013. Photo: US Air Force via AFP

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Indian and Chinese troops are being removed from their disputed border area. Pictured, People Liberation Army soldiers and tanks during military disengagement along the border in Ladakh in 2021. Photo: Indian Ministry of Defence via AFP

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (left) speaks with moderator Arvind Panagariya, a professor of Indian political economy at Columbia University, during an event in New York on Wednesday. Photo: via Twitter

US seeks to wean India from Russia weapons with arms-aid package

Soldiers in Russian-made T-90 tanks march during a ceremony to celebrate India’s 73rd Army Day in New Delhi. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian military equipment, and the US is trying to change that. Photo: AFP

Multiple rocket launchers shoot missiles during the joint military exercise during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Peace Mission-2021 in Russia in September 2021. More than three thousand servicemen from Russia, India, China and several other nations are involved in the exercise. Photo: EPA-EFE

Russian servicemen display military camouflage equipment during a joint military anti-terrorist command and staff exercise in Russia in September. Photo: EPA-EFE

India to buy first armed drones from US to counter China and Pakistan

A US Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, in January 2010. Photo: AP

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New Delhi wants to diversify its weaponry, which is mainly Russian-made, and also to develop its own defence industry
India will build the aircraft and export them to other countries in its region



Delhi wants to diversify its weaponry, which is mainly Russian-made, and also to develop its own defence industry; India will build the aircraft and export them to other countries in its region.
