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The U.S. is expected to reach a deal to produce jet-fighter engines in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington during June 21 to 24, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The deal would allow General Electric (NYSE:GE) to produce jet engines for military jet fighter Tejas, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics, in its plants in India.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh went over the deal’s specifics while Austin was in India earlier this week. The deal would still need the approval of the U.S. Congress.
Other potential topics of discussion during Modi’s visit include collaboration on military systems, as well as systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The planned GE (GE) deal will boost India’s defense capabilities amid rising Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Ocean region. It will also ramp up the defense cooperation between India and the U.S., industry executives told WSJ.
“We expect this to be one of the biggest deliverables from the prime minister’s U.S. visit,” said an unnamed Indian official.