On Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived for an official visit to the United States in Washington, DC.
To further boost their comprehensive global strategic partnership ties, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh began his official visit to Washington where he signed a new non-binding bilateral defense cooperation agreement with the US through the Security of Supply Arrangement on Friday (August 23, 2024).
The SOSA commits both countries to providing reciprocal priority support for goods and services that contribute to national defense.
“Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh ’s visit to the United States begins with two important documents being signed in Washington DC. On Friday, senior Defence officials on both sides concluded a Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA) and Memorandum of Agreement on Assignment of Liaison Officers,” The Ministry of Defence (MoD) posted on X along with some photos of the event.
Mr. Singh arrived here on Thursday (August 22, 2024). for a four-day visit to the U.S.
In a press release on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) said that “The Arrangement will enable both countries to acquire the industrial resources they need from one another to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions to meet national security needs.”
SOSA was sign by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Industrial Base Policy Dr. Vic Ramdass on behalf of US and Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisitions), Samir Kumar Sinha on behalf of Ministry of Defence (MoD).
“This Security of Supply Arrangement represents a pivotal moment in the US-India Major Defence Partner relationship and will be a key factor in strengthening the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI),” remarked Mr. Ramdass.
He said, “I look forward to OUSD(A&S) hosting the next DTTI meeting this fall to deepen cooperation between our respective defence industrial bases and pursue bilateral co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment initiatives.”
According to the release, India would provide assurances under its government-industry Code of Conduct with its industrial base while Indian firms would voluntarily agree to make every reasonable effort to prioritise providing US priority support .
With an expanding global supply chain for DOD, SOSAs are an important mechanism for DoD to strengthen interoperability with US defence trade partners. The Arrangements institute working groups, establish communication mechanisms, streamline DoD processes, and proactively act to allay anticipated supply chain issues in peacetime, emergency, or armed conflict. It said that they are also useful tools in developing investment strategies that ensure redundancy and security.
The other SOSA partners include Australia; Canada; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Norway Republic of Korea Singapore Spain Sweden UK.
