Deals in the defense and tech sectors were announced as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Joe Biden at the White House for a high-profile state visit on Thursday.
Speaking at a news conference with Biden, Modi said that the leaders settled “a landmark agreement” for General Electric
GE,
to manufacture F414 military jet engines with the Indian state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics.
The move will bolster India’s military defense as the country engages with an increasingly assertive China along their shared border. It will also potentially redirect India’s reliance on Russia.
Russia accounts for almost half of India’s major arms imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Other defense deals include India’s $3 billion purchase of American MQ-9B Reaper drones known as “SeaGuardians,” according to reports.
The two countries also created INDUS-X, or the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem, which aims “to advance defense innovation between the United States and India” through collaboration between governments, businesses and academic institutions, according to a Department of Defense press release on Wednesday.
Additional agreements affecting the technology sector “create reliable supply chains” in the “midst of global uncertainties,” Modi said.
U.S.-based Micron Technology
MU,
will invest $800 million and join forces with Indian authorities to create a $2.75 billion semiconductor production and testing facility in India.
What’s more, Applied Materials
AMAT,
will announce a new semiconductor center in India and LAM Research
LRCX,
a semiconductor development company, launched a program to train 60,000 Indian engineers, according to the Associated Press.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
