A senior Pentagon official said the United States, which is seeking rapprochement with India to counter the rise of China, will work with New Delhi to develop drones and export them to other countries in the region.

And Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Indo-Pacific, Eli Ratner, said that “India, which is looking to diversify its weapons, most of which are still Russian-made, is also looking to develop its defense industry, and we want to support India on these two fronts.”

“This practically means that we will work closely with India to jointly produce and develop capabilities that will meet its defense modernization goals,” he said, noting that “India can then export goods to our partners in the region, including South and South East Asia. reasonably priced”. He pointed to “the possibility of cooperation in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-drone systems.”

In this context, he said: “The Pentagon is considering joint production with India in the short to medium term for unspecified ‘key opportunities'”, adding that “we are in good talks with our Indian counterparts at the highest levels and we hope to announce more soon.” time”.