In partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense and India’s Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council hosted the inaugural INDUS X Summit and a startup-focused defense exhibition, “Catalyzing Indo-U.S. Defense Innovation” at the U.S. Chamber headquarters June 20-21.
The INDUS X Summit is a key deliverable of the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which held its industry track discussions at the U.S. Chamber this January. A major opportunity to accelerate U.S.-India defense co-development and co-production, the INDUS X Summit and startup exhibition have the potential to be catalysts for India to achieve its target of $5 billion in defense exports by 2025, and for India to diversify its defense supply chain via U.S. partnership. Over two days of speeches, panels, open and closed-door discussions, speakers and participants included the U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, India’s Ambassador to the U.S. Sripriya Ranganathan Sripriya Ranganathan, U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, and Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17).
U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said, “We’re thrilled to see INDUS X working for peace and preparing coordination in a way that we’ve never experienced between India and the United States,”
“This launch is just the beginning. Expect to see opportunities for startup companies to participate in government sponsored joint challenges [and] find technological solutions to our most pressing problems. Expect opportunities for startups to partner with established defense industry leads. I’m so excited in the coming months to work with folks both in India and here to have a mechanism to matchmake those startups.”
Ambassador Atul Keshap, Senior Vice President for South Asia and President of the U.S.-India Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, stated that “I have no doubt that some of the companies displaying their technologies here today will become some of the most important players in the Indo-U.S. defense innovation ecosystem in the years to come.”
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