AFP, BANGALORE, India (AFP) Nov 19, 2003-Defence companies of the United States on Wednesday made an offer to India to jointly develop and produce new technologies.
Thomas Pickering, vice president of the Boeing Corporation said India had the ability to make advanced technologies at reduced costs.
“India has a large and growing national market or buying capacity,” Pickering told businessmen at the second conference of the Indo-US group.
“India also has world-class engineering and research and development capabilities at a scale that cannot be replicated. Recognising this, US defence companies such as Boeing are deepening their commitment to partnership with Indian private and public enterprises,” said Pickering, who also heads the High Technology Cooperation Group set up between India and the US to foster better technology ties,
The United States, along with many other countries, slapped sanctions on India and Pakistan in 1998 after they carried out nuclear tests. Most sanctions have been lifted, but some remain relating to the nuclear and high-tech systems.
Pickering said owing to the “up and down” history of relations between the United States and India and the “proclivity of the US policymakers to try to regulate our relations”, US firms bore the burden of being unreliable suppliers.
“In addition as the global technology leaders the US research and development production costs tend to be higher than many of our competitors,” he said.
India's defence procurement process, he added, was focused on outright purchase, licensing and local development.
“We want to introduce a new concept — co-development and co-production of next generation technologies,” he said.
However, Pickering said India's defence procurement contracts need to be more transparent and regulations restricting foreign participation in joint ventures to 26 percent of equity needed to be re-examined.
Last month Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad led a team of top military officers to Washington for a meeting to discuss ways to enhance defence cooperation between India and the United States.
New Delhi persuaded Washington to lift curbs on the transfer of dual-use and high-tech systems.
Pickering said technology transfer polices had been substantially relaxed since 2001 but US export licensing may need a further review.
The first meeting of the High Technology Cooperation Group, set up in 2001, was held in July in Washington.
The Bangalore meeting identified areas of intellectual property rights, information technology, defence and biotechnology as the core areas to further ties.
Kanwal Sibal, Foreign Secretary of India, said India was open to joint ventures in the defence sector.
“This is very much the thrust of how we want our cooperation as we are buying a lot of defence material. Why should we only buy? We must co-produce,” Sibal said adding India was also talking to Russia.
