The Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between India and the United States will be signed very soon after it gets approval from the government, Indian Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said on Monday.
Ravi on Monday met US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and a delegation of business heads of various companies here.
A Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) would lead to mutual acceptance of aeronautical products and parts developed in either country as aeronautical products are now being designed and manufactured in India and a need was felt for international acceptance of such products.
The Minister thanked Locke for the US' cooperation, through the Memorandum of Agreement and India-US Aviation Cooperation Programme (ACP), in the ongoing projects that have helped the Indian civil aviation sector.
The ACP bilateral partnership was launched in 2007 and targets mutual interests in supporting modernisation requirements of India's rapidly growing aviation sector.
A public-private partnership between the US Trade Development Agency (USTDA), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and US aviation companies -- had been established to provide a forum for unified communication between the government of India and US public and private sector entities in India.
The USTDA is the lead sponsor of the ACP and funds the technical assistance programmes for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Ravi also expressed hope that projects in the pipeline like the grant agreement for the Inspector training programme for the DGCA will be given priority.
He also thanked Gary Locke for committing to fund a technical assistance programme for the AAI for the installation and operational certification of a pilot Ground Based Augmentation System at Chennai International Airport which will help to improve the safety and efficiency of India’s air traffic management systems.
The two sides also agreed to hold third India-US Aviation Summit later this year, in India, at a date mutually convenient.