The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) participated in the third India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit in Silicon Valley, California on Monday, September 9. The summit was co-hosted by the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and Stanford University. The INDUS-X initiative continues to vitalize U.S.-India defense industrial cooperation and produce new innovations in technology and manufacturing by facilitating partnerships among defense technology innovators, investors, and researchers.
Speakers at the INDUS-X Summit explored opportunities to co-produce advanced military capabilities, create new funding streams for defense technology development and resilient defense supply chains, and enhance U.S.-India military interoperability in support of both countries' shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and U.S. SPACECOM Commander General Stephen Whiting delivered keynote remarks at the INDUS-X Summit, providing insights and perspectives on the future of defense cooperation between the United States and India.
The summit featured the signing of an upgraded Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Indian Ministry of Defense's Defense Innovation Organization (DIO) and the release of a new official INDUS-X webpage. The Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates a shared commitment to expanding cooperation on defense innovation between DIU and DIO to expand their respective militaries' access to cutting-edge technologies through non-traditional processes. The INDUS-X webpage is a resource for investors and startups to learn about the program, its goals, and partnership opportunities. It features a directory of participating companies and upcoming events.
At the summit, U.S. and Indian companies, universities, and nonprofit organizations discussed new technology testing and experimentation opportunities available to companies through INDUSWERX, a testing consortium led by private-sector organizations. The consortium will continue exploring pathways for defense and dual-use companies in the INDUS-X network to test, refine, and integrate their technologies at premier testing ranges across the United States and India.
The summit also convened meetings of the INDUS-X Senior Advisory Group and Senior Leaders Forum, the two advisory forums under INDUS-X that enable DoD and Indian MoD senior leaders to engage stakeholders on new initiatives and advance progress on current activities under INDUS-X.
The DoD released an INDUS-X Fact Sheet in February 2024 to outline accomplishments and priority near-term efforts under the INDUS-X initiative.
