Approval of sale of 22 drones 'valuable signal' for India-America ties: Defence expert

With United States approving the sale of 22 Guardian drones to India ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington, the defence experts on Saturday dubbed the development as a 'valuable signal' from President Donald Trump administration that they are keen to retain the continuity in the two countries' bilateral policy.

Defence expert Uday Bhaskar opined that the visit is important, primarily for Prime Minister Modi to get assurance that President Trump will continue the bilateral relationship along the track that had been identified by earlier presidents George Bush and Barack Obama.

"In this, the defence and security relationship is an important component and Make in India. So, to that extent, the executive decision taken by Washington to supply India 22 drones is a valuable signal that Trump administration would like to retain the continuity in U.S.-India bilateral policy," Bhaskar told ANI.

Another defence expert Qamar Agha also echoed the same, saying that the development will further strengthen India-America ties.

"It's a positive step. These (drones) are very sophisticated guardian drones. They can be used at the border. This indicates that the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Donald Trump is further going to strengthen our ties with America. It again shows that how Americans are keen to have Prime Minister Modi in Washington," Agha told ANI.

At the invitation of the Trump, Prime Minister Modi will visit Washington DC on June 25-26.

Days before the Prime Minister meets Trump for the first time in Washington, the State Department yesterday said that United States is looking forward to strengthen its ties with India.

"We're looking forward to strengthening ties between the United States and India. We have a lot of areas of mutual cooperation, fighting terrorism, we have a lot of people-to-people ties, strong people-to-people ties; so we're looking forward to that visit. We have a lot of visas that get granted - are granted to Indian citizens," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

Giving an indication of the 'friendly' ties, the U.S. has cleared the sale of 22 unmanned Guardian drones to India.