The third edition of the two-day INDUS-X summit will begin on Monday, during which India and the US will explore ways to strengthen partnerships in defence innovation, according to an official release.The India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit, themed: “Harnessing Investment Opportunities to Enhance Cross-Border Defence Innovation Ecosystems,” will be held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California from September 9-10, said a press release by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). It will focus on the critical role of private capital in advancing the defence innovation sector, bringing together leading defence policymakers from Washington and New Delhi. “The event will facilitate interactions between American and Indian leaders in defence innovation, including startups, venture capitalists, academia, accelerators, and industry professionals, to foster co-production and investment opportunities,” according to the press release. It will include sessions with leaders from the private and the public sectors touching on themes of “strengthening defence and advanced technology partnerships, funding defence innovation, and resilient supply chains”.  The summit will be co-hosted by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and Stanford University.

INDUS-X, which stands for enhanced strategic and defence partnership between India and the US, was launched on June 21 last year by the US Department of Defence and the Indian Ministry of Defence during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington, DC. The India-US defence and strategic ties have been on an upswing in the last few years. The two countries have inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies. The two sides also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 which provides for interoperability between the two militaries and also provides for the sale of high-end technology from the US to India. In October 2020, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) pact to further boost bilateral defence ties.

The pact provides for the sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries. P