Security of Supply Arrangement, Reciprocal Defense Procurement agreements will bring Indo-US defence industries together: Pentagon

Washington: As India and the US are set to begin negotiations on two transformational deals -- Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) and Reciprocal Defense Procurement Agreement (RDP), the Pentagon has said that the defence industries of the two nations will come together once the negotiations conclude.

RDP will allow Indian businesses to service DoD procurement contracts; and allow US businesses to service MOD procurement contracts while the SOSA will allow DoD to move Indian orders for US equipment to the front of the line.

This is particularly helpful during crises when one country has urgent needs, but American vendors are struggling to prioritise between their customers.

"Both agreements would promote long-term supply chain stability. So those are initiatives that will take probably years to negotiate, but we're committed to starting those negotiations,” a Defense Department official told PTI on Tuesday.

Announced during the recent trip of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to India, SOSA and RDP agreements are part of a new Roadmap for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation.

"It commits us to long-term supply chain integration and specifically to beginning negotiations on a security of supply arrangement and reciprocal defence procurement arrangement. These will be transformational agreements when they are concluded that will do a tremendous amount for actually bringing the Indian and defence industrial bases more closely together in the future," a senior defence department official said.

"SOSA is something that allows on both sides, more rapid access to critical supplies, minerals technologies that we can access those more rapidly when we need them," the official said in response to a question.

RDP MOUs are binding international agreements that relate to the research, development, or production of defence equipment, or to the reciprocal procurement of defence items.

They involve a mutual commitment not to discriminate against the supplier of the other country for agreed-upon items, the official said.

SOSAs allow the DoD to request priority delivery for DoD contracts, subcontracts, or orders from companies in the country with whom the agreement is signed.

SOSA also allow the signatory nations to request priority delivery for their contracts and orders with US firms.