Hyderabad/New Delhi: The United States on Thursday said that American companies will make Hyderabad and Bangalore "important sources" for cutting-edge technology as co-development and co-production of defence articles was the new course for collaborative partnership between the two countries.

The US also said that talks between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during former’s visit last month for Republic Day celebrations had sowed the seeds that have the potential to make US-India partnership the "defining counter-terrorism relationship for the region in the 21st century".

Home to the prestigious DRDO and Ordnance factory on its outskirts, Hyderabad would be the natural centre for advancing Indo-American cooperation in advancing defence tie-up. DRDO has been in the forefront in defence research & development works and dedicatedly working towards enhancing self-reliance in the defence systems. It undertakes design & development leading to production of world class weapon systems and equipment. With logistics support from DRDO, India’s nuclear weapons-capable Agni missile was test fired.

Talking about the way forward in Indo-US ties, American Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, said that perhaps the truest test of a friendship between countries is the degree to which their armed forces trust and collaborate with each other. "Ties between the US and Indian defence establishments took immense strides forward during President (Obama)'s visit," he said at a seminar at the Vivekananda International Foundation here. "The US defence industry will now make Bangalore and Hyderabad important sources for cutting-edge technology," he said.