US, India may soon agree on production of engines for fighter jets

The US and India are likely to agree to jointly manufacture fighter jet engines in the South Asian nation when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington next week, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

The deal is close to the finish line, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified as the details are confidential. The White House is expected to clear the proposal from General Electric Co., the Massachusetts-based aerospace manufacturing giant, to produce the engines with state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. for the Tejas light-combat aircraft, the people said.

Modi starts his first formal state visit on June 21. President Joe Biden will host him for a state banquet, and the Indian leader will also address the US Congress.

A number of the deliverables from Modi’s visit “are not just bullet points on a page,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a conference in New Delhi. “They are fundamentally designed to remove those obstacles in defense trading, in high tech trade, in investment in each of our countries.”

Sullivan is in India this week for meetings with top Indian officials ahead of the Modi visit.