In a first, American Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will board India's Russian made aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, as both India and US look at deepening bilateral ties in the critical sector during his upcoming visit next week.
Carter, who will be here on a three-day visit from April 10, will be holding detailed discussions with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on a range of issues including a tweaked Logistics Support Agreement, cooperation in aircraft carrier technology besides other issues including Scan Eagle drones for the Indian Navy. It is expected that India will also express its strong displeasure over US' sale of F16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
Defence sources said that both countries have almost closed the gap in discussions on the logistics support agreement but underlined that it was not a done deal yet. Carter will first travel to Goa where he will spend two days and hold talks with Parrikar. During his stay in Goa, he is likely to go on board aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, bought by India from the Russians.
Carter and Parrikar will also board USS Blue Ridge, one of the oldest ship in US 7th Fleet, off Goa.
He is expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. During Carter's visit to India in June last year, he had signed the 2015 Framework for India-US Defence Relationship, which builds upon the previous framework and successes to guide bilateral defence and strategic partnership for the next 10 years.
The new framework agreement provides avenues for high- level strategic discussions, continued exchanges between armed forces of both countries and strengthening of defence capabilities. Another area of focus would be the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). Both India and the US have finalised two project agreements for joint development of mobile electric hybrid power sources and next-generation protective ensembles.
