Meeting with US Defence Secy Austin ‘excellent’, says Rajnath Singh
Washington: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said he had an “excellent” meeting with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin and hailed the signing of two defence agreements with the United States during his ongoing visit as “pathbreaking”.
Rajnath Singh met Austin at the Pentagon after a ceremonial welcome.
“Excellent meeting with my dear friend @SecDef Lloyd Austin,” he said in a post on X.
“We reviewed the existing defence cooperation activities and discussed ways to deepen it further.”
“The signing of Security of Supply Arrangements and the agreement for positioning of Indian officers at key US commands are pathbreaking developments.”
Officials from the two sides signed the agreements on Thursday, according to an X post by the Defence Ministry, which said: “Senior defence officials from both sides concluded the Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA), and Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Assignment of Liaison Officers.”
No further details of the documents were available immediately.
Rajnath Singh also visited the Arlington National Cemetery and paid his respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
The US had said on Thursday that the two officials were expected to discuss a wide range of issues including “close coordination and partnership” and “shared goals of maintaining and keeping a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
A readout of their meetings is expected later in the day. The US readout of the Friday meeting was awaited.
Defence ties between India and the US have been strengthening steadily in recent years with increased bilateral and multilateral military-to-military ties and defence trade, which has grown from near zero in 2008 to more than $20 billion in 2020 and growing. Co-production and co-development are increasingly a central feature of India-US defence trade. The two sides announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit in June 2023 that General Electrics will co-produce F-414 fighter jet engines with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.