On Oct 1,2021 (PTI) India and the US have decided to set up a Joint Working Group on Industrial Safety for comprehensive cooperation on cutting-edge technologies.
Administrators said the in-principle declaration to form the assortment was taken at the 5-day India-US Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) conference that concluded on Friday. The aim of the conference held in Delhi is to develop a protocol for the exchange of confidential information between the defense industries of the two countries.
Major US defense companies were pushing for a framework to ensure the security of critical technologies and confidential defense information shared with India's private sector. The ISA was confirmed in December 2019 to expedite the replacement of confidential information between the defense industries of the two Indian and US countries.
"During the gathering, the US and India agreed in principle to set Industrial Security Joint Working Group," the MoD said in a statement. which will allow defense industries to collaborate on state-of-the-art defense technologies.
The summit, organized to prepare a blueprint for the implementation of the ISA, was co-chaired by the Designated Security Authorities (DSA) from the Indian and US sides, Anurag Bajpai and David Paul Bagnati, respectively. "The DSA also toured the Indian defense industry to plan a blueprint," the ministry said.
India-US defense ties have strengthened over the years. In June 2016, the US declared India a "major defense partner". The two countries have also signed important defense and security agreements over the years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016. Under this agreement, the armies of the two countries are allowed to use each other's bases for repair work in terms of supplies.
The two countries also signed the COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018, which provides avenues for cooperation between the two armies and the sale of high technology from the US to India.