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The jet engine agreement between General Electric (GE) Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) announced last week was not done on a “strategic bet” but was a way of saying that India and the United States will be friends for the next 25 to 50 years, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday.
Garcetti was responding to a question during a discussion with C Raja Mohan, senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Delhi, at an event in IIT Delhi.
Last week, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, a MoU was signed between GE and HAL to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India for the Light Combat Aircraft Mk 2 to be made for the Indian Air Force (IAF). GE has agreed to transfer 80 per cent of the jet engine technology to HAL and the deal is expected to be signed shortly.
Talking about the jet engine deal, he said it was based on fundamental trusts as the US leaned in (to India) with technology — more than they have done with some of their closest allies.
“You don’t do that on a strategic bet. You do that in a relationship and a friendship. That isn’t a hot and cold thing, it’s not going to change in five years. That’s saying we’re going to be friends for the next 25 to 50 years,” he said.
In his address at the event, Garcetti underlined the importance of India and the US working together to co-produce military equipment, stating that it helps create a state-of-the-art system at a sustainable cost and “with resilient supply chains for India, the United States, and our partners”.
“Through the co-production work that is already happening in airframes and engineering, and the planned work in aero engines, artillery, and ground vehicles, to name just a few, we are poised to further deepen co-production and tackle new opportunities – some that we can’t even imagine today,” he said.
Highlighting the increasing military cooperation between the two countries, Garcetti cited examples of troops of the two countries conducting joint training and operations from the mountains of Alaska to the Red Sea. “Our forces are friends, thanks to our strong tradition of exchanges at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels,” he said.
He added that the countries’ defence industries are increasingly connected. “In fact, components made here in India already keep U.S. Apache helicopters and C-130 transport aircraft in the sky. And soon, we’ll see advanced jet engines made here in India as well.”
He said the countries together can resist coercion can deploy their ships together in the Pacific and Indian oceans and beyond for maritime security and can also employ their air forces across the Indo-Pacific region to ensure freedom of the skies and the seas, and to jointly respond to humanitarian crises from the Sahara to the Pacific Islands.
“We can coordinate our land-force exercises across regions to bolster the sovereign defence of all countries who want to work with us. These are opportunities fully within our control as Major Defence Partners,” he said.
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