On February 9th, the eve of Aero India 2025, AMCHAM co-hosted a U.S. aerospace and defense industry roundtable with U.S. government delegates at the Conrad Hilton, Bengaluru. Discussions highlighted the tremendous foundation that has been created in the U.S.-India relationship and stressed taking that forward in strategic goals, creating employment and meeting joint challenges in growth and military strategy by capturing the sentiment that exists in the area of defense cooperation. Accelerating the defense ecosystem to move the relationship on the fast track was a key point. Discussions centered on critical issues like alignment of interests in U.S. defense exports vs. Indian requirements for co-development and co-production, priorities of the new administration, interoperability in the Indo-Pacific, revamped avenues for defense industrial partnership, FMS process reforms and impact on future collaboration, export controls and tech transfer reform, advancing Indian participation in resilient defense supply chain as well as participation of wholly owned subsidiaries and indigenous content requirements. The U.S. government delegation included Charge D’Affaires Jorgan Andrews, U.S. Embassy, Consul General Chris Hodges, U.S. Consulate General Chennai, Brigadier General Patrick Teague, Defense Attache, U.S. Embassy, Maj Gen Ricky Mills, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Air Force, Col John Fontejon, Air Force Programs Lead Defense, Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), SES Sandy Long, Senior Advisor for Defense Exports, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Exports and Cooperation and Captain Chad Gagnon, Chief, Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Salil Gupte, Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing India & South Asia. Representatives from BAE Systems, Boeing, Collins Aerospace, Honeywell, KPMG, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon Technologies participated in the discussion. The roundtable was followed by a reception with U.S. aerospace and defense industry.