Joint study to look at Indo-US cooperation in missile defence systems: Robert Gates

27 February 2008

New Delhi: India and the United States will conduct a joint study of needs of an Indian missile defence system and look at the likely level of cooperation that the US could extend to the programme, according to US defence secretary, Robert Gates. The secretary stressed that talks along these lines were only in their early stages.

"We're just beginning to talk about perhaps conducting a joint analysis about what India's needs would be in the realm of missile defence and where cooperation between us might help advance that," Gates told reporters.

Gates' announcement comes in the wake of persistent reports in the media that US aerospace majors, such as Lockheed Martin with its Patriot system, were keen to involve themselves with India's homespun ballistic missile defence (BMD) programme, which has made impressive progress over the last year or so. 

Other aerospace majors, apart from Lockheed, who could become partners in such a programme include Boeing Co, Raytheon Co and Northrop Grumman Corp, all of whom have developed advanced systems in the air, sea and space based segments of a BMD system.

In his interaction with the media, Gates sought to play down the commercial aspect of a budding military interaction with India saying that the US was interested in building a long-term relationship with the country.

He also noted that such a relationship was independent of the fate of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, which is facing domestic opposition in India and a degree of skepticism in the US.