US Recognises India's Desire To Produce More Military Equipment: Envoy

The United States recognises India's desire to produce more of its military equipment within the country and it looks forward to growing partnership in this effort, outgoing US envoy Kenneth Juster said on Tuesday.

In his farewell address on ''Ambition and Achievement in the US-India Partnership'', he also said America's support for India's rise as a global power is clear across the political spectrum.

He said that the Indo-Pacific region needs stability, leadership and a democratic model for development that does not threaten the sovereignty of other countries and a strong and democratic India is an important partner to promote peace and prosperity.

"We recognise India''s desire to produce more of its military equipment within the country and the United States looks forward to our growing partnership in this effort," he said.

"US and India are committed to strengthening our defence and security cooperation. In the past four years, we have purposely deepened this cooperation to keep our nation safe from a growing array of threats and to provide security beyond our own borders," he added.

Juster said that the Indo-Pacific is particularly significant for US-India relationship because "it recognises the reality that India and Indian ocean are inextricably tied to East Asia and Pacific".

He said that the United States is committed to this region and India because "our future is inextricably linked to it".

"America''s support for India''s rise as a global power is clear across the political spectrum. No country has a strong and robust defence and counter-terrorism relationship with India as does the US," he said.

"US government is dedicated to not just bilateral relationships but to supporting India''s rise on the world stage. US National Security Strategy put it down on paper in 2017, welcoming India''s emergence as a leading power and a stronger strategic and defence partner," he added.

The Ambassador also said that the Indo-Pacific region encompasses the fastest and largest growing economies in the world.

"More than 50 per cent of international trade passes through its waters. The region is rich in natural resources and it is fast becoming the centre of gravity of the evolving international system. Indeed, the tectonic plates of that system have shifted, marked especially by the rise of China and more recently by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which has devastated health, the economy in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere," he said.

The US Ambassador said that in the past four years, the United States and India have shown the ambition to have a free and stable Indo-Pacific.

"The concept of Indo-Pacific has been many years in the making. It is in the past four years that our countries have shown the ambition to turn it into reality," he said.