Modi's US visit will set new benchmarks: Pentagon

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US this month will set new benchmarks for bilateral ties and big announcements are likely to be made on defence industrial cooperation and boosting India's indigenous military base, the Pentagon has said. Prime Minister Modi will embark on his first state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden this month.

During his four-day visit starting on June 21, the US president and the First Lady will host Modi for a state dinner on June 22. “When Prime Minister Modi comes here to Washington for a State Visit later in the month, I think it will be a historic visit setting new benchmarks for the relationship,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said during a panel discussion at the Center for New American Security on Thursday.

“I think it (the visit) will be looked back upon similar to how the Japan two plus two earlier this year was a pivotal moment in the relationship. People will be looking back on this visit by Prime Minister Modi as a real springboard for the US-India relationship,” he said. Ratner said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited India recently to advance a number of bilateral issues and prepare the ground for the prime minister's visit to Washington by finalising particular agreements and initiatives that the two countries are working on.

“Among the priorities are clear strategic alignment around the question of co-development and co-production between the United States and India on the defence side. This is a priority for Prime Minister Modi to strengthen India's indigenous defence industrial base, as well as advancing the military modernisation,” he said. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Indian Indian counterpart Ajit Doval here in January launched the initiative for critical and emerging technology (iCET) to try to bolster technology cooperation between the US and India and there is a very strong defence component of that that the two countries are looking to advance.

“I know there have been efforts at this in the past. Sometimes there's skepticism around, is it going to be real this time? And my answer is, I think, all signs are pointing toward yes, it's going to be real and we're going to have some really big, historic, exciting announcements out of the prime minister's visit in terms of particular projects around defence industrial cooperation,” Ratner said.