India and the US will discuss the entire gamut of bilateral defence ties and sharing of intelligence for counter-terrorism during Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel’s talks with his counterpart Arun Jaitley on Friday. The visiting Minister will also call on PM Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during the three-day visit starting Thursday.
Besides exploring ways to further strengthen defence relationship, the US is also expected to urge India to hasten up proposed defence deals worth over Rs 20,000 crore. These include 22 Apache attack helicopters, 15 Chinook heavy lift helicopters, four P-8I reconnaissance planes and howitzer guns. Negotiations for these contracts are in the final stages.
The two sides will also explore ways to forge partnerships for joint design and production of sophisticated weapon systems. So far, India has this kind of relationship only with Russia and the US is also keen to have such ties. The two leaders are also expected to hold discussions on further expanding military-to-military exercises between the two sides. India and the US hold regular exercises under like Malabar for navies and Shatrujeet for Special Forces and Air Force’s Cope India series of war-games at regular intervals.