Defence Secretary discusses defence ties with UAE Force Development Authority Chief

New Delhi: Chief of the Force Development Authority at Ministry of Defence, United Arab Emirates Major General Staff Hassan Mohamed Sultan Bani Hammad on Wednesday called on Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar in New Delhi. They discussed ways to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries. The General also briefed the Defence Secretary about the 11th meeting of the India-UAE Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) held on May 24, 2022.

According to an official statement released by the Ministry of Defence, the JDCC meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (Armed Forces) Dinesh Kumar and Chief of the Force Development Authority at the Ministry of Defence, UAE. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress made in military-to-military engagements, including joint exercises, Expert Exchanges, Industry Cooperation and Cooperation in the field of Research and Development.

During the meeting of the Defence Secretary with Major Gen Hammad, it was decided to identify new avenues and examine areas of mutual interest for Joint Venture in order to enhance defence industry cooperation. "Enhancing the scope and complexities of the existing joint exercises was also discussed. It was agreed to hold the next meeting of JDCC in UAE on mutually convenient dates in 2023. The JDCC is the apex body between the Defence Ministries of India and UAE to comprehensively review & guide all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation," the statement further added.

The General also met with Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Policy Planning and Force Development) Lt Gen Atulya Solankey at Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff. The UAE delegation also interacted with Indian Defence Industries and visited Bharat Electronics Limited, Ghaziabad.

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