US, India discuss joint production of military equipment

A top American defence official and the head of India's DRDO have discussed ways to take bilateral defence cooperation towards the goal of joint development and production of military gear.

US Deputy Secretary of Defence Ash Carter and DRDO chief Avinash Chander also held talks on measures to deepen the defence trade relationship between the two countries.

"The two leaders discussed how to deepen US-Indian defence trade relationship, and exchanged views on a range of efforts currently underway to move bilateral defence cooperation further toward the mutually agreed-upon goal of a relationship based around co-development and co-production," a senior defence official told PTI.

Carter and Chander met at the Pentagon yesterday. Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao and Vikram Singh, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia, also participated in the meeting.

Carter and Chander noted that they looked forward to the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington.

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