PM Modi, Prez Biden welcome jet engine pact between GE Aerospace-HAL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden welcomed the completion of the notification process regarding negotiations for a commercial agreement between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders also reiterated the importance of nuclear energy as a necessary resource to meet climate, energy transition, and energy security needs of both the nations.

The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to deepen and diversify the India-US Major Defence Partnership through expanded cooperation in new and emerging domains such as space and AI, and accelerated defence industrial collaboration.

PM Modi and President Biden welcomed intensified consultations between the relevant entities on both sides to expand opportunities for facilitating India-US collaboration in nuclear energy, including in development of next generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode.

The United States reaffirmed its support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and committed to continue engagement with like-minded partners to advance this goal.

"The leaders welcomed the completion of the Congressional Notification process on 29 August 2023 and the commencement of negotiations for a commercial agreement between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India, and recommitted to work collaboratively and expeditiously to support the advancement of this unprecedented co-production and technology transfer proposal," the White House statement read.

President Biden also welcomed the issuance of a Letter of Request from the Ministry of Defence to procure 31 General Atomics MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment.

This will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India's armed forces across all domains.

The two leaders applauded the conclusion of a second Master Ship Repair Agreement, with the most recent agreement signed by the US Navy and Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders, Ltd., in August 2023, the statement read.

India and the US recommitted to advancing New Delhi's emergence as a hub for the maintenance and repair of forward-deployed US Navy assets and other aircraft and vessels.

The leaders also welcomed further commitments from US industry to invest more in India's maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities and facilities for aircraft.

PM Modi and President Biden also commended the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) team for establishing a robust collaboration agenda to harness the innovative work of the US and Indian defence sectors to address shared security challenges.

INDUS-X convened the inaugural Academia Start-up Partnership at IIT Kanpur, with the participation of Penn State University, and initiated the Joint Accelerator Program for Indian Startups, through a workshop led by U.S. accelerator M/s Hacking 4 Allies (H4x) and IIT Hyderabad in August 2023, the statement added.

India and the US also welcomed the announcement by the Ministry of Defence's Innovations for Defence Excellence and the US Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit to launch two joint challenges, which will invite start-ups to develop solutions to shared defence technology challenges.