Nuclear energy, defence, visa to be discussed in Modi-Biden meet Friday
Modi and Biden
As New Delhi gears up to host leaders from the leaders from G20 nations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hosting a private dinner for US President Joe Biden on Friday (Sept 8) evening.
Biden has already departed for India to attend the high-stakes G20 Leaders’ Summit. Hours before emplaning the flight to New Delhi, Biden said, “I’m headed to the G20 – the premier forum for international economic cooperation – focused on making progress on Americans' priorities, delivering for developing nations, and showing our commitment to the G20 as a forum that can deliver."
Following the private dinner, both leaders are expected to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss a range of key geo-political developments.
Among the discussions to be held between both leaders are nuclear energy, defence, visas, consulates, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The White House expects to see meaningful progress on GE jet engines and civil nuclear technology in upcoming bilateral talks between US President Joe Biden and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday.
Earlier this year, the aerospace unit of General Electric (GE) announced it had signed an agreement with India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics to jointly make engines in India to power fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.
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G20 Summit 2023: US President Joe Biden to arrive in New Delhi later today
India formally asks for ‘killer’ drones
Meanwhile, ahead of the Biden-Modi meeting, India has formally put out a request to the US government to purchase 31 MQ9B ‘killer’ Reaper drones. The agreement is expected to be finalised this year.
According to the Times of India (TOI) newspaper, quotingsources, “a few days ago”the Indian defence ministry sent a detailed LoR (letter of request) to the US for the 31 ‘hunter-killer’ remotely-piloted aircraft systems, along with their weapons packages, mobile ground control systems and other equipment.
The US government is expected to respond with the LoA (letter of offer and acceptance), with the costing and the requisite notification to the US Congress under its foreign military sales (FMS) programme, “within a month or two”, the sources told TOI.
The deal is estimated to cost India around $3.5 billion for 31 high-altitude, long-endurance Predator-B drones. India already operates two Sea Guardian drones, an unarmed version of the deadly Predator series.
India is seeking the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and MQ-9B SeaGuardian variants of these drones, which are designed to operate via satellite and have endurance of more than 30-40 hours.
These drones can fly in all weather conditions with payloads of more than 2,000 kg.
(With inputs from agencies)
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