The US provides India precedence as its “key defence associate in South Asia”, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has affirmed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in response to a Pentagon Spokesperson, Colonel Chris Devine.
“When he spoke to Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, Hegseth emphasised the precedence the US locations on India as its key defence associate in South Asia,” stated Devine.
He identified that each leaders reviewed the appreciable progress each nations have made towards reaching the defence objectives set out within the February 2025 joint assertion by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and agreed to signal the following ten-year US-India Defence Framework once they meet this 12 months.
“In addition they mentioned pending main US defence gross sales to India and the crucial of shut defence industrial cooperation between the 2 nations,” he added.
After the decision, Rajnath Singh posted on X that they’d a superb dialogue to evaluate the continuing and new initiatives to additional deepen India-US defence partnership and strengthen cooperation in capability constructing.
He conveyed his deep appreciation for the unwavering assist prolonged by the US to India in its combat in opposition to terrorism, and he was wanting ahead to assembly him at an early date.
Rajnath Singh spoke to Hegseth earlier than the US official met with visiting Exterior Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on the Pentagon.
After that assembly, the Pentagon stated that EAM Jaishankar and Hegseth mentioned participation within the subsequent INDUS-X Summit, the place the 2 nations will proceed to construct on US-India defence industrial cooperation and produce new improvements in know-how and manufacturing.
The defence framework additionally figured of their talks.
The Pentagon stated that Hegseth advised Jaishankar the U.S. and India are mutually conscious of the safety issues within the area, and each nations have the flexibility to counter that menace collectively.
The defence cooperation between India and the US is without doubt one of the most consequential pillars of the US-India relationship, stated EAM Jaishankar.
The defence framework comes underneath the US-India COMPACT (Catalysing Alternatives for Navy Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Expertise) for the twenty first Century, which was agreed to by President Trump and PM Modi at their Washington assembly in February and covers cooperation in a variety of areas from defence and safety to commerce and area.
PM Modi and Trump introduced plans for brand new procurements and coproduction preparations for Javelin antitank guided missiles and Stryker armoured autos, in addition to buying six further P-8I maritime patrol plane, in response to the Pentagon.
India has already built-in varied weapons programs into its navy, just like the C-130J Tremendous Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III and P-8I Poseidon plane, in addition to the CH-47F Chinook, MH-60R Sea Hawk and AH-64E Apache.
It additionally utilises the Harpoon antiship missiles, M777 howitzers and MQ-9 B Sky Guardians, it stated.