(a) whether the Government has signed an agreement with United States of America to jointly develop protective gear for soldiers against biological and chemical warfare;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the extent to which India is going to be benefited from the agreement?
MINISTER OF DEFENCE (SHRI MANOHAR PARRIKAR)
(a) The Government is in the process of signing an agreement titled Next Generation Protection Ensemble (NGPE) with the United States of America.
(b) The objective of the agreement is to test analyse and compare Chemical Biological (CB) Protection Technologies to facilitate development of requirements for a wearable protective ensemble capability with the view towards cooperatively developing mutually identified technologies subject to a separate agreement.
(c) This agreement has good potential for mutual benefit and to promote and accelerate technology exchange. It may lead to a separate agreement for cooperatively developing mutually identified technologies.
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