AMCHAM hosted a U.S. defense industry interactive session with Ms. Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, U.S. Department of Defense on September 18th in New Delhi. Ms. Udaya Arun, Director, AMCHAM welcomed the Under Secretary and briefly introduced participants while thanking the event partner for the evening, RTX. Mr. Alain Garcia, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President, Global Business Development – India, Boeing Defense Space & Security gave a brief overview of the defense sector in India. Under Secretary Shyu, in her opening remarks, shared details of the way forward planned by both governments in further collaborations between U.S. and India in critical and emerging technologies (iCET). She also mentioned the role of having stronger startups and SMEs pipeline was crucial. Mr. Samit Ray, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Deputy Vice President – Government Affairs & Public Policy South East Asia, RTX moderated the session. The discussions with members covered key technological strengths that need to be harnessed for defense R&D, focus areas of U.S. and India priorities, and how both governments plan to address challenges and regulatory hurdles to facilitate cross-border collaboration in defense technology R&D. The role of collaboration to foster national security and economic development was discussed while including involvement of academia, industry, and government. Best practices case studies from successful international defense technology partnerships were also discussed. Dr. Dana Johnson, Director, International Outreach and Policy, OUSD (R&E), U.S. Department of Defense, Col Erica Hass, Military Assistant to USD (R&E), U.S. Department of Defense and RDML Michael Baker, Defense Attache, U.S. Embassy, among others, joined the session.