India and the United States have entered into a bilateral non-binding Security of Supply Arrangements (SOSA) to ensure the mutual supply of defence goods and services and address unanticipated supply chain disruptions to meet respective national security needs.

The signing of SOSA, which took place on Thursday during the ongoing four-day visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Washington, partially eases the US’ restrictive export control regime. The Indian industry has long demanded a level playing field in defence industrial cooperation.

Negotiations for the Reciprocal Defence Procurement Agreement (RDP), are still ongoing between the two countries. Through the RDP, Indian companies will be able to service US Department of Defence (DoD) contracts and vice versa, American businesses will have to honour Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) deals.

The two sides also signed the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Assignment of Liaison Officers as a follow-up to the earlier mutually agreed decision to enhance information sharing between India and US.

Defense Liaison

India is said to have posted three Colonel level officers in US Commands: at the Hawai-headquartered Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), the Special Operations Command (SOCOM/USSOCOM) based in Florida and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) in Bahrain, which is US-led multinational maritime force.

It was signed by Joint Secretary for International co-operation, Ministry of Defence Vishwesh Negi and Assistant Secretary of State for Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Dr Ely Ratner, the MoD posted on X on Friday.

Meanwhile, the SOSA was signed by Samir Kumar Sinha, MoD’s Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisitions), and Dr. Vic Ramdass, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, representing the United States.

Through the SOSA, the United States and India agree to provide reciprocal priority support for goods and services that enhance national defense, said the US Department of Defence in a statement to the media.

“This Security of Supply Arrangement represents a pivotal moment in the US–India Major Defence Partner relationship and will be a key factor in strengthening the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI),” said Dr Ramdass.

“I look forward to OUSD(A&S) hosting the next DTTI meeting this fall to deepen cooperation between our respective defence industrial bases and pursue bilateral co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment initiatives,” he added.

The US will provide India with assurances under the US Defence Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS), including program determinations by the DoD and rating authorisation by the Department of Commerce (DOC).

Similarly, India will establish a government-industry Code of Conduct with its industrial base, where Indian firms will voluntarily agree to providing the US with priority support.

With an expanding global supply chain for DOD, SOSAs are an important mechanism for DoD to strengthen interoperability with US defence trade partners.

The Arrangements institute working groups, establish communication mechanisms, streamline DoD processes, and proactively act to allay anticipated supply chain issues in peacetime, emergency, and armed conflict. They are also a useful tool in developing investment strategies to ensure redundancy and security.

India is the 18th SOSA partner of the US. The others include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.