Exclusive: US trusts India, not everyone gets to co-manufacture our best weapons, says Sergio Gor
The US, Sergio Gor said, does not simply sell military equipment to every country around the world. India, instead, is among the countries Washington trusts, he said, adding that the US believes it has "the best equipment" and "the most advanced technology" and sees working with trusted partners such as India as an "incredible opportunity."
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has said Washington’s defence relationship with New Delhi is built on “incredible trust” and goes well beyond the sale of military equipment, describing India as a trusted partner with which the United States wants to deepen military cooperation.
“Our defence relationship is not just about sales. It's also about trust,” Gor said in an exclusive interview with India Today.
The US, Gor said, does not simply sell military equipment to every country around the world. India, instead, is among the countries Washington trusts, he said, adding that the US believes it has “the best equipment” and “the most advanced technology” and sees working with trusted partners such as India as an “incredible opportunity.”
Gor pointed to the Javelin anti-tank missile system and Apache helicopters as examples of the defence cooperation between the two countries. “So whether that's the Javelins, or whether that's Apache helicopters that got delivered earlier in the year, or various other items that are in the works,” he said, adding that there is “a lot more happening in defence sales.”
One of the prime examples of defence technology transfer, as Gor stressed, is the Indian Army’s agreement to acquire Javelin, the advanced shoulder-fired anti-tank missile system.
Following the signing of the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for the Javelin system, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Javelin Joint Venture -- a partnership between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin -- to explore co-production of the Javelin All Up Round or the fully-assembled missile in India.
Under the MoU, the companies will explore setting up a facility for the final assembly and integration of the Javelin AUR, along with component-production capabilities in India. The initiative is expected to bring critical assembly expertise and knowledge transfer into India’s defence industrial ecosystem and strengthen the country’s self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
But Gor stressed that defence ties cannot be reduced merely to transactions. The relationship, he said, is also anchored in military exercises and the trust built through sustained engagement between the two countries.
India conducts more military exercises with the United States than with any other country, Gor said. He cited the upcoming bilateral UDAWAS exercise in Rajasthan as another example of US-India military cooperation.
“India has more military exercises with the United States than any other country, and we trust India,” Gor said, adding that defence cooperation is an area Washington will continue to grow and engage in.
The US envoy also linked the strength of the relationship to the personal rapport between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “They truly have a real friendship,” Gor said, describing that friendship as another factor underpinning the broader relationship.