05 December 2001
Text: Joint Statement of the U.S.-India Defense Policy Group
(U.S., Indian defense officials met in New Delhi December 3-4) (900)
U.S. and Indian defense officials conducted the third meeting of the
Defense Policy Group (DPG) in New Delhi on December 3 and 4. The
delegations reviewed ongoing defense cooperation between India and the
U.S., and exchanged views on the global campaign against terrorism and
pledged to expand mutual support in counter terrorism activities.
Following is the text of the joint statement issued in New Delhi on
December 4.
(begin text)
Joint Statement
Third Meeting of the U.S.-India Defense Policy Group (DPG)
December 3-4, 2001, New Delhi
The third meeting of the U.S.-India Defense Policy Group (DPG) was
held in New Delhi on December 3-4, 2001. The meeting was co-chaired by
Dr. Yogendra Narain, Defense Secretary to the Government of India, and
Mr. Douglas Feith, Under Secretary for Policy in the U.S. Department
of Defense. During his visit to New Delhi, Mr. Feith called on Defense
Minister George Fernandes, Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh,
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and National Security
Advisor Brajesh Mishra, and the Chief of Army Staff.
During their meeting on 9 November 2001 in Washington, D.C., Prime
Minister Vajpayee and President Bush reiterated their commitment to
transform India-U.S. relations. The common democratic traditions of
our countries remain the bedrock of their relationship and the
foundation for long-term strategic cooperation. Collaboration within
the community of democratic states constitutes the best strategy for
preserving the security, the liberty, and the prosperity of open,
pluralistic, and multi-ethnic societies. India and the United States
agree that they share strategic interests in Asia and beyond and that
their defense and security cooperation can promote freedom, global
peace, economic progress, and security. A strengthened bilateral
relationship will assist both countries to counter threats such as the
spread of weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism,
narcotics trafficking and piracy. They discussed the contribution that
missile defenses could make to enhance strategic stability and to
discourage the proliferation of ballistic missiles with weapons of
mass destruction.
The two delegations exchanged views on the global campaign against
international terrorism. They emphasized that the military operation
against the Taliban and the Al-Qaida network in Afghanistan is an
important step in the global war against terrorism and its sponsors
everywhere in the world. They expressed satisfaction at the
cooperation between the two countries in the ongoing campaign in
Afghanistan. Noting that both India and the United States have been
the targets of terrorism, the two sides agreed to add a new emphasis
in their defense cooperation on counter terrorism initiatives,
including expanding mutual support in this area. The two sides also
recognized the importance of joint counter-proliferation efforts to
achieve the goals of their defense cooperation.
The delegations reviewed the ongoing defense cooperation between India
and the United States. They committed themselves to increasing
substantially the pace of the high-level policy dialogue,
military-to-military exchanges and other joint activities. As par of
this effort, the DPG's next meeting will convene on an accelerated
schedule in May 2002, preceded by a meeting of the Military
Cooperation Group.
India and the United States have agreed that the Executive Steering
Group of the three Services of the two countries would meet before the
end of February 2002, to plan and review military-to-military
cooperation and oversee implementation of the visits, exercises, and
training programs:
- Training for combined humanitarian airlift
- Combined special operations training
- Small unit ground/air exercises
- Naval joint personnel exchange and familiarization
- Combined naval training exercises between U.S. Marines and
corresponding Indian forces.
The two delegations underscored the importance of a stable, long-term
defense supply relationship as part of the overall strategic
cooperation between India and the United States. Since the waiver of
sanctions, a number of applications for export licenses have been
approved by the U.S. Departments of State and Defense and are in the
process of notification to Congress. These include licenses such as
that related to weapon locating radars. The U.S. also agreed to
expeditious review of India's acquisition priorities, including engine
and systems for Light Combat Aircraft, radars, multi-mission maritime
aircraft, components for jet trainer and high performance jet engines.
To assist this licensing and sales process in the future, the two
sides have resolved to establish a separate Security Cooperation Group
to manage the defense supply relationship between India and the United
States. This Group will meet in February-March 2002.
The delegations also agreed:
- That the Joint Technical Group under the DPG would meet in
February-March 2002 to discuss the promotion of bilateral ties in the
field of defense production and research.
- That the U.S. Joint Staff and the Indian Chief of Integrated Defense
Staff will meet in the spring of 2002, before the next DPG, and
regularly thereafter to discuss tri-service institutions, military
planning, and tri-service doctrine.
- That a new structured dialogue between the U.S. Defense Department's
Office of Net Assessment and its Indian counterpart will develop
exchanges between the defense research and analyses communities in
both countries.
The delegations expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved at
the third meeting of the DPG. They acknowledged that the meeting had
imparted a new momentum to the work of creating a comprehensive, deep,
and mutually beneficial defense relationship between the two
countries.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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