AMCHAM’s Defense Committee held a meeting on February 28th, in New Delhi under the leadership of Mr. Alain Garcia, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President, International Business Development, Boeing Defense Space & Security, Boeing India Defense. Mr. Salil Anil Gupte, Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing India & South Asia, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Honorary Advisor – Defense Committee, AMCHAM, Col Shailendra Arya, Advisor (IC-II), Ministry of Defence, Government of India and Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM attended the meeting. Mr. Salil Gupte briefed members on the recent defense delegation to DC that took place February 18th – 20th. Dr. Ajay Kumar shared his views on the way ahead in the U.S.-India defense partnership as highlighted in the joint statement of February 13th. He outlined the immense potential and opportunities that have arisen for the coming years, shared that the U.S.-India relationship is at its strongest today and emphasized it would be defense-centered going forward. Members discussed cyber defense, military purchases, opportunities and challenges in co-production and co-development, defense innovation, revision of DAP 2020, issues concerning indigenous content, policy and regulatory alignment for faster execution, RDP in the context of wholly owned subsidiaries of FOEM’s still not eligible for participating in Make I & II programs, and possible proposal to create an offset fund to support local start-ups. Representatives from BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Technologies and Smiths Detection were present.