The first meeting of AMCHAM’s Defense Committee for 2024-25 was held on September 5th under the following leadership, Mr. Alain Garcia, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President, International Business Development, Boeing Defense Space & Security, Boeing India Defense, Captain Chad Gagnon, Honorary Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Chief, Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy, Mr. Samit Ray, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Deputy Vice President Government Affairs & Public Policy South Asia, RTX and Mr. Gaurav Mehndiratta, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Partner and Head – Aerospace & Defence, KPMG India. Captain Chad Gagnon, briefed the committee on upcoming U.S.-India defense cooperation activities and the recent visit of Raksha Mantri Mr. Rajnath Singh to Washington DC. Members discussed points to be taken up during an upcoming interaction with Mr. Rajesh Singh, OSD, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The committee decided to prepare a white paper for initiating a policy level document on defense cooperation and collaboration framework between the U.S. and India. The white paper would also highlight impediments in the co-production and co-development process. Participation of U.S. defense industry in AMCHAM’s Hyderabad Chapter signature event ‘Tech-Scape Telangana’ scheduled on September 30th in Hyderabad was encouraged and an interaction with Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary ITE&C and Industries & Commerce, Government of Telangana and Mr. Praveen PA, Director Aerospace & Defence, Government of Telangana on ‘Telangana: A Strategic Hub for U.S. Aerospace and Defense Companies’ was proposed. Representatives of BAE Systems, Raytheon, EY and L3 Harris were present at the meeting.