The US has despatched here a senior official to explain the intricacies of its system for selling defence hardware and technology as part of its efforts to drum up orders from India.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gregory Suchan, who heads the US Directorate of Defence Trade Controls, spent Monday and Tuesday meeting officials of the external affairs and defence ministries to clear the air on America's complex system of licensing for military sales.
"The basic purpose of my meetings was to demystify the process of how we regulate defence trade," Suchan told reporters here after his meetings with Indian officials.
He said he had briefed the Indian side on the registration of defence sales, licensing for defence exports and procedures for compliance by armaments companies with terms laid down by the US government.
Suchan's visit is a precursor to a trip to India next week by US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Steve Rademaker.
The US has authorised the sale to India of hardware and technology worth $1 billion since January 2002, and has its eyes on a greater share of the multibillion-dollar Indian arms market that is currently dominated by Russia, Israel and Britain.
Suchan said he had answered queries raised by Indian officials and offered clarifications on issues that had arisen in the past over US defence equipment.
The Indian establishment, including Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has raised questions about the US' reliability as a defence supplier in light of sanctions imposed in the past.
But Suchan pointed out that the US currently supplied military hardware worth about $60 billion a year to over 100 nations and suggested this itself was an indicator of its reliability.
While noting that the US intended its defence sales to advance its foreign policy, Suchan said his government had a "totally hands off" policy on offsets in armaments contracts finalised by American companies.
According to a new policy unveiled by the Indian government last week, it will be mandatory for all foreign armaments companies winning contracts of over Rs.3 billion to invest 30 percent of the total cost in the country as offsets.
"We don't regulate offsets. In general, the US policy is hands off. But the US Congress hates offsets, no one likes it," he noted.
US daily calls for sustaining pressure on Musharraf
Publish Date : 3/2/2007 7:07:00 AM
With the Bush administration reportedly sending a tough message to Pakistan that US aid would be cut if it did not rein in Al Qaeda militants, a leading American daily has called for sustaining the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf .....
'Most US intelligence on Iran inaccurate'
Publish Date : 2/26/2007 9:01:00 AM
Most US intelligence on Iran shared with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has proved inaccurate and none has led to significant discoveries inside the country, diplomats at the IAEA have said.
UN praises India's all-female police unit deployed in Liberia
Publish Date : 2/26/2007 8:58:00 AM
The all-female police unit from India serving in Liberia has come in for high praise for its work in the peacekeeping mission from the United Nations envoy in the country.
Pentagon continuing with its "intensive planning" on Iran:rept
Publish Date : 2/26/2007 8:37:00 AM
The Pentagon is continuing its "intensive planning" for a possible bombing attack on Iran, a process that began last year at the instance of President George W Bush as Washington is focussing on Shiite Tehran in a shift .....
Nuclear terrorism a matter of time: James Goodby
Publish Date : 2/5/2007 8:40:00 AM
Accusing the Bush administration of not giving nuclear terrorism the highest priority in national goals, a former US diplomat has warned that it was only a matter of time before a terrorist organization detonated an atom bomb in an American city.
Penelope Cruz to star in new Woody Allen film
Publish Date : 2/3/2007 10:28:00 AM
Oscar-nominated Spanish actress Penelope Cruz is to star in the new Woody Allen film, to be shot this summer in Barcelona, newspaper El Pais reported on Friday.
Bush administration seeks $245B for wars
Publish Date : 2/3/2007 10:19:00 AM
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Thousands rally against Bush's Iraq war
Publish Date : 1/29/2007 8:41:00 AM
Thousands of protestors, including Hollywood stars and civil rights leaders, came out on to the streets here opposing the war in Iraq ahead of a crucial debate and vote in the US Senate on the issue.
Arms Pact violation by Israel to figure in Congress
Publish Date : 1/29/2007 8:35:00 AM
Israel's alleged violation of an arms pact with America by unleashing US-made cluster bombs into civilian-inhabited areas of south Lebanon will come up for a debate in the Congress tomorrow, with even the prospect of sanctions against Jerusalem.
No Pakistan, it's Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan in Bush's speech
Publish Date : 1/25/2007 8:19:00 AM
The State of the Union address by US President George W Bush was dominated by war on Iraq and US' present policy to justify it, in spite of the growing realisation that US marines positioned there have been entangled in a dangerous quagmire.
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