Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth held an introductory call on Thursday, reaffirming their shared commitment to the US-India Major Defence Partnership.
The discussion centred around bolstering operational cooperation and advancing defence industrial and technological collaboration to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a statement, the US Department of Defence said, "Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh held an introductory call today to reaffirm their shared commitment to the US-India Major Defence Partnership. The leaders agreed to pursue an ambitious agenda to accelerate our operational cooperation and defence industrial and technology collaboration to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific."
The statement further revealed that Secretary Hegseth looked forward to convening the next 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue and finalising the next decade-long US-India Defence Framework this year.
Taking to social media, Rajnath Singh said, "We reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation and explored ways and means to expand and deepen the India-US bilateral defence relationship. We also agreed to chart out an ambitious agenda which includes operational, intelligence, logistics and defence-industrial cooperation. Looking forward to work closely with Secretary Hegseth."
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The bilateral defence partnership, formalised under the 'New Framework for India-US Defence Cooperation,' was renewed in 2015 for ten years. It gained further significance in 2016, with India being designated as a Major Defence Partner (MDP) of the United States.
Key elements of defence cooperation between the two nations include regular institutional dialogues, joint military exercises, and defence procurements.
The apex platform for bilateral engagement is the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, co-chaired by the Minister of External Affairs and the Defence Minister from the Indian side, along with the US Secretaries of State and Defence.
Defence agreements underpinning cooperation include the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (2016), Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (2018), Industrial Security Agreement (2019), and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (2020).
As tensions in the Indo-Pacific region persist, enhanced collaboration between India and the United States aims to foster regional stability and counter emerging security challenges.
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