India, US enter into Security of Supply Arrangement

Washington, Aug 23 (IANS) India and the US have entered into a bilateral, non-binding Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) that will enable both countries to acquire the industrial resources they need from one another to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions to meet national security needs, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The deal between the US Department of Defense (DoD) and India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) was signed on Thursday by Vic Ramdass, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, on behalf of the DoD, and Samir Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisitions), on behalf of the MoD.

Through the SOSA, the US and India agree to provide reciprocal priority support for goods and services that promote the national defence, the DoD said in a statement.

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

According to DoD, in the SOSA, the US and India commit to support one another's priority delivery requests for procurement of critical national defence resources. The US will provide India assurances under the US Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS), with program determinations by DoD and rating authorisation by the Department of Commerce (DOC). India will in turn establish a government-industry Code of Conduct with its industrial base, where Indian firms will voluntarily agree to make every reasonable effort to provide the US priority support.

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. Other SOSA partners include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

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