Rajnath to hold talks with his US, Germany counterparts

New Delhi: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and German Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius are visiting New Delhi for bilateral talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on defence cooperation. 

Rajnath's meeting with the US Secretary of Defence will be held on 5 June while talks with the German minister will take place the next day.

The defence ministry said in a statement, a host of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with focus on industrial cooperation, are likely to be discussed during the two meetings.

The US Secretary of Defence will arrive tomorrow from Singapore on a two-day visit. It will be Secretary Austin's second visit to India, the previous one being in March 2021.

The German minister of Defence will be on a four-day visit to India beginning 5 June. He will arrive from Indonesia.

Apart from his meeting with Rajnath, Pistorius is likely to meet a few defence start-ups during an event organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) in New Delhi. On 7 June, he will travel to Mumbai where he is likely to visit headquarters of the Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.

This visit also underscores Germany's keen interest in deepening its defence co-operation with India, an emerging global power. On the other hand, New Delhi is diversifying from its military dependence on Russia and Berlin reassesses its long-standing arms exports policy, Germany could become an important defence partner for India. 

The recent collaborations include co-development of military hardware and tech transfers, and a deal worth $5.2 billion where Germany would jointly build six conventional submarines in India could be underway. 

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