Top officials of India and the US discussed the ‘way forward’ on joint production and co-development of high-end technology during the India-US Defence Policy Group meeting.US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said: “Our work today turns leaders’ commitments into concrete progress–deepening our Major Defence Partnership”. This, he said, was for “expanding joint production and information sharing, and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific for both our nations.”Both sides review ongoing initiatives A Defence Ministry spokesperson said: “Both sides reviewed ongoing initiatives, identified priority areas for co-development & co-production of defence equipment”. Both sides reaffirmed commitment to enhancing military-to-military cooperation through joint exercises, training visits & strategic exchanges, the spokesperson added.Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and US Under Secretary of War Elbridge Colby co-chaired the meeting in New Delhi with both sides looking to accelerate the momentum.Gor’s remarks on ‘co-production’ have come at a time when India and the US are closing in on having a deal for jointly making the F414 fighter jet engines in India. The engines are to power the Tejas Mark-2 jets and the first version of the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA).Also India is not very happy over the delay of F404 jet engines by US company General Electric. These engines are to power the Tejas Mark-1A jets. Public sector plane-maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is ready with almost 16 planes, but it does not have the engines.Last year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took up the matter with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth. On the sidelines of the meeting, Colby called on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and later met Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. “Exchanged views on the current geopolitical scenario,” Jaishankar posted on x after Colby called on him.Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X that Misri met Colby on the sidelines of the India-US Defence Policy Group meeting today. “They exchanged views on advancing bilateral defence cooperation, regional security and further strengthening the strategic partnership,” Jaiswal said.Yesterday, Colby, speaking an event in New Delhi, said the US was looking ahead to a critical new decade of their major Defence partnership with India. The US, he had said, was looking to expand its sales of military equipment to India but added the potential for co-production and co-development of equipment with India was great possibility.Colby, looks after policy matters in the Department of War. India and the US have a ‘Defence Framework’ between the two countries to leverage defence industrial, science, and technology cooperation to enhance our forces’ readiness and to jointly develop and produce capabilities. The US and India are looking to hasten and augment cooperation in areas, including long-range precision ammunition, maritime domain awareness, anti-submarine warfare, and advanced technologies.