US pledges supplying cutting edge military technology to India

The United States has assured India of supplying cutting-edge military technology, ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to Washington next week, local media reported Thursday. Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton B. Carter met with Indian National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Defence Secretary R.K. Mathur in the national capital, where he stressed the need for several co- production and co-development military projects to spruce up bilateral strategic relations, The Times of India newspaper reported. As of now, Russia is India's largest defense supplier. But, Carter said that the United States was looking to partner with India across "the entire spectrum" of defense capabilities with "no boundaries" being set -- from offering joint manufacturing facilities for the next-generation of Javelin anti- tank guided missiles to C-130J aircraft, the newspaper said. "This is the new way for India and the U.S. We do not have the history that Russia does. We are trying to replicate it," he was quoted as saying. India pledges to spend over 100 billion U.S. dollars on acquiring arms over the next decade.