U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter, as part of his first official trip to the Asia-Pacific region, visited India and discussed with key government officials and defense industry leaders how the U.S. and India can work more closely to ensure security and prosperity in the 21st century, according to a press release from the American Center here Wednesday.

Carter's meetings in New Delhi on Monday with Indian defense secretary, foreign secretary and national security advisor followed through on U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta's visit to India last month when he had made it clear that "we must work to deepen our security partnership so that our relationship becomes more strategic, more practical, and more collaborative".

The release said that one of Panetta's initiatives that Carter discussed in New Delhi was further leading an effort, along with Indian counterparts in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of External Affairs, "to make our respective bureaucratic processes simpler, more responsive, and more effective to increase defense trade and cooperation".

Carter also met with Indian defense industry executives in Hyderabad, the state capital of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday to discuss practical next steps for streamlining bureaucratic barriers in both the U.S. and India. He toured several joint defense ventures co-producing transport plane and helicopter components.

Carter's visit to India is part of a 10-day tour that has already taken him to Japan and Thailand and he will conclude his trip in South Korea later this week.