Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, along with Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and a high-level delegation, held a meeting with Secretary of Defence of the United States of America Mr Lloyd Austin, accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officials in Pentagon on April 11, 2022.

 

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

 

They discussed ways to deepen Major Defence Partnership (MDP) and to work together to advance quality and scope in bilateral defence cooperation. They reviewed Military-to-Military engagements, information sharing, enhanced logistics cooperation, and 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 Raksha Mantri underlined the need of co-development, co-production between India and US companies and invited US companies to India for manufacturing and maintenance of defence equipment.

 

Nampi/Savvy

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