New Delhi – India and the United States have agreed to establish an equipment testing and evaluation program as part of their strategic partnership to increase aviation safety, said Press Trust of India Friday.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency entered into a cooperation agreement with Airports Authority of India and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of India to establish an aviation security equipment testing and evaluation program, said the report.

The initiative, described as the first of its kind in international aviation safety cooperation, followed the crashing of a number of civilian passenger planes over the past few weeks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry paid a three-day visit to India from Wednesday to Friday to hold strategic dialogue between the two countries and meet with India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Source: Xinhua