Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his US Counterpart reviews bilateral defence cooperation

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has held a high delegation-level meeting with the Secretary of Defence of the United States of America Mr Lloyd Austin in the Pentagon. The U.S. delegation included the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officials in the defence office.

The two Defence Ministers reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral defence cooperation and the regional security situation. Both Ministers acknowledged the salience of the India-US defence partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and broader Indian Ocean Region.

Both the Ministers discussed ways to deepen the Major Defence Partnership (MDP) and to work together to advance the quality and scope of bilateral defence cooperation. They reviewed Military-to-Military engagements, information sharing, enhanced logistics cooperation, and the ability of the Armed Forces to cooperate closely under compatible communication arrangements. In this context, closer cooperation of Special Operation Forces came up prominently.

The two Ministers discussed ways for closer collaboration between Defence Industries. The Defence Minister underlined the need for co-development, and co-production between India and US companies and invited US companies to India for manufacturing and maintenance of defence equipment.

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