India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) was launched in June 2023 to build defence innovation bridge between two countries under initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
- INDUS-X facilitates partnerships among U.S. and Indian defense companies, incubators and accelerators, investors, and universities.
Achievements of INDUS-X
- Commercial collaborations between defence companies of two countries in various defence domains such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and semiconductors.
- Exploration of modalities for joint innovation funding between two countries.
- Indus-X Gurukul: A hybrid information series for U.S. and Indian defense start-ups.
- Industry-Academia linkage: Exchange of best practices on technology transfer and licensing, advancing research in emerging defence technology domains etc.
India-US Defence Technology Cooperation
- In 2016, US designated India as a “Major Defence Partner”.
- Defence agreements include:
- Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016,
- Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018,
- Industrial Security Agreement in 2019 and
- Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in 2020.
- iCET: Overarching umbrella framework for technology cooperation, it covers commercial as well as defence technologies.
- US-India Roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation: To fast track technology cooperation and coproduction in areas of mutual interest.
Significance of India-U.S. defence ties
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