Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a four-day official visit to the United States from August 23 where he is expected to take up delay in supply of GE-404 engines for Tejas Mark-1A fighter aircrafts and other acquisition issues like of MQ9B drones during his a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

He will also meet US Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Jake Sullivan.

The visit comes in the backdrop of the growing momentum in India-US relations and defence engagements at multiple levels, said the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday.

The delay in supplying of GE-404 engines is having cascading effect on acquisition of LCA Mk-1A by the Indian Air Force, as the timeline of the handover of the maiden jet has been revised more than once since the original schedule of March, this year.

The visit, believe the MoD, is expected to further deepen and broaden the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.

The Defence Minister wanted to take an industry delegation but the move didn’t materialise due to paucity of time in the US which otherwise will also slip into election mode since next month putting a pause on bilateral defence and strategic talks, said sources aware of the development.

Singh, however, will also chair a high-level roundtable meeting with the US defence industry on the ongoing and future defence collaborations.

He will also interact with the Indian community during the visit.