Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral defence talks with his counterparts from the United States and Germany, Lloyd Austin and Boris Pistorius next week with the objective of enhancing the military and industrial ties.

The defence minister will hold talks with the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on June 5 while the meeting with his German counterpart is scheduled a day later. During his conversation with Boris Pistorius, the Indian defence minister is expected to discuss the Rs 50,000 crore deal for the construction of six conventional submarines. The request for proposal was issued over two years back.

The Indian Navy is desperately looking to replace its ageing submarine fleet. Currently, it has 16 conventional submarines of which 11 are of over two decades old. Of the 16 submarines, seven are Russian Kilo-class submarines, four are German-origin HDW submarines, and five are French Scorpene-class submarines.

In January 2020, Rajnath Singh-headed Defence Acquisition Council had shortlisted Mazgaon Docks Ltd (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) as the Indian partners for the Project-75I deal. The five foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (South Korea), Naval Group (France), Navantia (Spain), Rosoboronexport (Russia), and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS, Germany).

Out of them, France has pulled out of the race citing that it did not meet the criteria laid down in the RFPs. According to sources, only Germany and South Korea meet the criteria to be in the race.

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Austin's Visit to India

Austin is visiting India for the second time, the first one being in March 2021. The two democracies seek to enhance their strategic collaboration under the framework of the US-India major defence partnership.

In a statement, the Pentagon emphasised that the visit will present an opportunity to expedite defence innovation and promote industrial cooperation, further strengthening the operational collaboration between the US and Indian militaries.

Besides, the two leaders are expected to discuss China’s assertive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region, along the line of actual control and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. His visit assumes significance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to pay a visit to the US on June 22.

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German defence minister's agenda

During his four-day stay in India, Boris Pistorius will also meet a few defence start-ups during an event organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) in New Delhi.

On June 7, he will travel to Mumbai to visit Headquarters, Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.

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