"It's [MDP] very close the finish line. It permits us to do things with India that have never been possible before. And it creates a presumption of approval for transactions with India," Carter was quoted on the US Department of Defense website.
Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar responded by observing that defence relations are a major driver of Indo-US bilateral relations.
US Secretary of Defence, Dr. Ashton Carter meeting the Union Minister for Defence, @manoharparrikar, in New Delhi pic.twitter.com/v9M1hFSU8l
— PIB India (@PIB_India) 8 декабря 2016 г.
The two Defense Ministers were speaking to the media after holding delegation level talks. For India, the meeting was part of its balancing act between Russia and the US. Parrikar had recently met his Russian counterpart Gen Sergey Shoigu in New Delhi and proposed joint ventures in producing spares for military equipment. The intention is to meet the demands of not just Russian origin Indian military equipment but to cater to other countries with similar defense hardware.
India has so far balanced the US and Russia in importing defense equipment. It recently signed a contract with the US for importing light howitzers. This was preceded by an understanding with Russia for importing three frigates and S-400 missiles.
Carter has been successful in persuading the Indian government to sign the Logistics Sharing Arrangement, a modified version of the Access and Cross Sharing Arrangement (ACSA) with several other quasi-military allies. However the pact has not become operational because of technical issues on the Indian side.
