Jaitley-Onodera assesses efforts on amphibious aircraft

The Indian and Japanese Defence Ministers have endorsed the importance of enhancing interaction between governments and defence industries of the two countries to encourage equipment collaboration including defence and dual-use technologies.

The endorsement was announced in a Joint Press Statement on the India-Japan Annual Defence Ministerial Dialogue, Defence Ministers Arun Jaitley and Itsunori Onodera on 5 September 2017. Jaitley visited Japan 5-6 September.

They noted the progress made in discussions to identify specific areas of collaboration in the field of defence equipment and technology cooperation including in the framework of the Joint Working Group on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation.

The ministers also noted the effort made by both countries regarding the cooperation on US-2 amphibious aircraft.

The ministers welcomed the constructive engagement between Acquisition, Technology and Logistic Agency (ATLA) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and agreed to commence the technical discussions for research collaboration in the areas of Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Robotics.

The Ministers commended the conduct of the first-ever meeting on defence industry cooperation held by ATLA and Department of Defence Production (DDP) in Tokyo, which witnessed significant participation of government entities and companies of both countries.

They expressed their expectation that this meeting will lead both countries to future defence equipment and technology cooperation and enhance interaction between governments and industries of both countries.

Jaitley briefed about recent policy reforms in the defence manufacturing sectors in India which offer opportunities for foreign industries to play an active role. fii-news.com