On August 10th, AMCHAM’s Defense Committee members met for the first time fully in-person since 2020 at the Boeing office in New Delhi. The leadership, Mr. William L. Blair, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President and Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India, Mr. Ravi Nirgudkar, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, BAE Systems India Services (Pvt.) Limited, Mr. Surendra Ahuja, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Boeing Defense India, Mr. Gaurav Mehndiratta, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Partner and Head – Aerospace & Defence, KPMG India and the immediate past Chairman of AMCHAM, Mr. Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India joined the meeting, along with a dozen other members.

From the U.S. Embassy, CAPT Michael Farmer, Chief, Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) joined the deliberations. Ms. Udaya Arun, Director – Aerospace & Defense, AMCHAM expressed delight with the presence of members in person and opened the meeting with a re-capitulation of her discussion with the DefExpo organizers and the clarity sought on the re-scheduled DefExpo 2022 in the context of foreign participation. Members also shared their views and reservations on the success of the rescheduled event, but confirmed that they would be present to show a united front, even if not in large numbers. AMCHAM’s potential plans at DefExpo were also deliberated. More interactions with thought leaders and think tanks were explored.