(Image source from: economictimes.indiatimes.com)

India and the US hope to conclude the key agreements including space and science at the second edition of 2+2 ministerial dialogue which has to be taken place in Washington on December 18.

The pact might lead to collaboration between ISRO’s Space Situational Awareness & Management (SSAM) and the corresponding US agency as the space deal entails collaboration in handling space scrap and incidents of collision threat that has increased with operational space craft.

The Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management was set up by ISRO to protect the assets of high value from the space scrap close approaches and collisions. To carry out all the activities related to SSAM systematically, a control center is being set up in Bengaluru which would provide facilities for the intensified activities that are foreseen by SSAM with the increase of clutter of space debris and the operational space assets.

A range of activities pertaining to protection of India space assets from inactive satellites, pieces of orbiting objects , near-earth asteroids and adverse space weather conditions would be hosted by ISRO control center.

“Inherent in India’s growth story is a natural partnership with the US. This partnership is evolving fast both in strategic and economic domains,” Harsh Vardhan Shringla Indian envcoy to Washinton told the students and faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday.

“Our defence procurement relationship has gone up from almost nil 15 years ago to nearly $20 billion today. India is now a major defence partner of the US. We have signed a number of foundation agreements and our militaries exercise with each other regularly with each other,” he said.

Shringla added, the bilateral trade between the two countries is expected to reach $ 160 billion in 2019 as it has been growing at 10% year-on-year.

“Trade has also become more balanced with US exports to India growing faster than Indian exports to the United States. Our investment relationship is also bi-directional with 2,000 US companies investing around $40 billion in India, covering almost every sector of the of the modern economy,” he said.

By Shrithika Kushangi