During the maiden visit of US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta to India, no deal would be signed for procuring any American equipment for the Indian armed forces.
"During the visit, the two sides will discuss a number of steps to enhance defence cooperation but deal for procuring 22 Apache helicopters is not going to be signed during the trip," Ministry sources said to Defencenow.com.
During the trip, Panetta would focus on taking the Indo-US defence ties to the next level, besides discussing the situation in the region and the 'rebalancing' of his country's posturing in the Asia Pacific region.
"He (Panetta) would really be focusing on how we move and how we continue to move forward with that partnership," a senior defence department official said as Panetta left the US on a nine-day Asia trip, his second to the region as the Secretary of Defence.
Panetta, the former CIA chief, would visit New Delhi tomorrow on the last leg of his Asia trip, that would first take him to Singapore where he would attend the Shangri-La Dialogue and then to Vietnam.
The objective of the trip is to give a comprehensive account to the partners and countries what "re-balance" in the Asia Pacific region would mean in practice.
In November last year President Barack Obama had said in a major policy speech in Australia that the US was keen to increase its presence in the Asia Pacific region and play a bigger role in its development and progress.
Besides holding his first meeting with his Indian counterpart A K Antony, Panetta is also expected to meet a host of Indian leadership including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is also slated to deliver a major speech at the IDSA in New Delhi. |