Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Invites US Companies To Invest Under 'Make In India' Programme

After the conclusion of the dialogue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the UP and Tamil Nadu corridor is where the American Defence companies have been asked to invest. 

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (R) welcomes Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh (L) (Getty Image)

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Monday invited American companies to invest in India and help bolster the 'Make in India' programme - PM Narendra Modi's pet project.

"I have talked to American companies for Make in India and aerospace and world programme. I have invited them for these programmes," said the Defence Minister in a press conference in the US after meeting American Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, reported news agency PTI.

After the conclusion of the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the UP and Tamil Nadu corridor is where the American Defence companies have been asked to invest. 

"We are talking to US companies for co-development and co-production. We are proposing it to them. We have asked the US companies to work in the UP and Tamil Nadu corridor and invest in that area," Rajnath Singh was quoted by PTI.

"I have insisted that India would focus on co-developmental productions and all the investors should come to India. They are welcome. And because in India they can develop the ‘Make in India’ because we want to build and make everything in India," said Singh while replying to a question by the media.

Singh also emphaised on the importance of strategic partnership between India and the USA. "Major defence partnership is one of the most important pillars of India-US strategic relations," he said, reported PTI.

"As the largest country and the centre to Indian Ocean, and as a democracy, India has critical roles to play in the Indian Ocean region and in the wider Indo-Pacific following the Act East and the Neighbourhood First policy," Singh further added.