US-India defence ties on right path: Ashton Carter

Washington, Jan 11 (IANS) Outgoing US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said that US-India ties are on the "right path" and both sides are committed to improve the defence partnership by sharing of technology and co-production.

Speaking at his final Pentagon news conference on Tuesday, Carter said, "We're on the right path. It's just a matter of taking those steps. And they involve deepening our cooperation in lots of ways. I mean, there's exercises and other kinds of operational activities."

Carter, who played an important role in declaring India as a major defence partner, said in response to a question at a briefing: "There is something that I think Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and Defence Minister (Manohar) Parrikar have been equally intent upon as President Obama and myself, which is the development of defence relationships for new technology, which involve technology sharing, co-production, and so forth."

"We have a great number of projects. I was in New Delhi not long ago and discussing all these, and there are many of them - so too many to enumerate. All of them on course. They all have their own schedules and sort of technical timelines to them," he added.

Carter said that the relationship between the US and India is destined for the future. "...Because of the nature of our two societies, the values that we share, the human relationship between our people," he said.