New Delhi. There is immense opportunities for Indo-US defence trade and partnerships to grow since India offers growth and productivity opportunities for the global aerospace industry and there is extraordinary potential, says a top Boeing official.

Dennis D Swanson, Vice President, global marketing, Boeing Defense, Space and Security said the bilateral defence cooperation had evolved considerably in the last few years, and at the international geo-strategic level, this convergence was occurring primarily because of the shifting balance of power in Asia.

“There is extraordinary growth potential in US-India defence trade and on the defence-industrial partnerships front. We welcome that as an industry body,” Swanson said.

Swanson – who is co-leading a high-powered delegation of US India Business Council to the 17th Defense Executive Mission to DefExpo 2020 along with David Sutton, director for the Indo-Pacific, Lockheed Martin International – said the opportunity was also as clear as the growth trajectory that has taken US-Indian defence trade from a mere US$ 200 million in 2000 to over US$ 18 billion in 2019.

Swanson said that as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India offers growth and productivity opportunities for the aerospace industry.

“The investments made by US companies in India in defence partnerships or investing in the manufacturing, skill development and engineering footprint in India is critical to our industry’s long-term ability to sustain and grow jobs here in India and the US,” he said.

“We are encouraged by the growing defence relationship that has expanded under all US administrations and continues to grow under the Trump administration,” he added.

Swanson said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo along with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had reaffirmed the US recognition of India as a “Major Defense Partner” and a commitment to offer India defence technologies on par with America’s closest partners and allies.

More recently, the Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) was signed during the 2+2 Dialogue which facilitates close technology transfer with the Indian private industry.

The Industrial Security Agreement (ISA), along with other foundational agreements such as Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), and joint exercises between the two militaries, furthers bilateral industrial and military cooperation and elevates India’s emergence as a stronger strategic partner, he said.

The Malabar military exercises and the revival of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) are a natural fit for collaboration, he noted.