Welcoming New Era of India-US. Defense Cooperation.

• Author: Bayer, Michael

In June, President Joe Biden hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India for an official state visit.

This visit amplifies the work of the re-energized Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also known as "The Quad," comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States, which focuses security cooperation on emerging and disruptive technology, standards setting and space.

In his speech, Biden emphasized the United States and India are making critical and emerging technologies a pillar of their relationship to ensure the technologies promote and protect shared values and remain open, accessible, trusted and secure.

Over the last several administrations, the United States has worked to deepen the partnership between Washington and New Delhi as part of the larger strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific.

The latest effort--the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem, or INDUS X--is focused on expanding strategic technology and defense industrial cooperation among government, businesses and academic institutions. The National Defense Industrial Association is thrilled to support these efforts and recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Society of Indian Defense Manufacturers to enhance coordination and cooperation between industrial bases.

The success of INDUS X and other security partnerships, including the Australia-United Kingdom-United States--AUKUS--trilateral security pact, is essential to democratic countries winning the ongoing technology race with the People's Republic of China. The outcome of the technology race will fundamentally determine the access, standards and relationships governments and private citizens have with each other regarding the use and application of technology. The stakes have not been this high since the early days of the Cold War arms race. This technology race ranges from developments in hypersonics, artificial intelligence and quantum computing to undersea warfare.

NDIA has a strong tradition of working with innovative companies of all sizes and partnering with the Pentagon at many of its events and conferences, especially through its technical divisions, including the Science and Engineering Technology division, the Small Business division and the Manufacturing division. In addition, the Strategy and Policy team frequently engages with membership on the most pressing innovation policy issues of the day, including shaping acquisition practices to meet the needs of small and...