New Delhi: Noting the horrific terrorist attacks against Israel, foreign and defense ministers of India and the United States, during the 2+2 Ministerial dialogue on Friday reiterated that both countries stand with Israel against terrorism and called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including with regard to the protection of civilians.
According to joint-statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), they called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages.
The leaders committed to continue coordinating with partners in the region on humanitarian assistance to meet the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They expressed support for humanitarian pauses and committed to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace.
During the ministerial dialogue, the ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the multifaceted defense partnership through wide-ranging dialogues and military exercises of increasing complexity and sophistication, accelerated joint projects initiated under the June 2023 Roadmap for India-U.S Defence Industrial Cooperation and expanded collaboration in emerging domains, such as space and artificial intelligence.
They expressed satisfaction with the pace of cooperation in Maritime Domain Awareness and looked forward to identifying pathways to promote stronger service-to-service ties and share technologies to address an array of maritime challenges, including in the undersea domain.
The leaders reaffirmed the Roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation as a catalyst for strengthening India's capabilities, enhancing its indigenous defense production, facilitating technology-sharing, and promoting supply chain resilience.
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The Ministers accordingly appreciated the commencement of negotiations for a commercial agreement between General Electric (GE) Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India. Such partnerships exemplify the type of defense-industrial cooperation that the two countries look forward to pursuing as an enduring pillar of the defense partnership, the statement added.
Looking ahead, they welcomed the progress achieved towards the co-production and co-development of defense systems, noting their mutual interest to co-develop and co-produce ground mobility systems, as they bring the two countries’ respective defense sectors closer together while enhancing Indian capabilities. They look forward to additional proposals from Indian and U.S. companies to develop and produce systems in the priority areas established in the Roadmap, it said.
