Top US-India defense officials pledge accelerated cooperation, aim to draw up 10-year plan

“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh held an introductory call today to reaffirm their shared commitment to the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership. The leaders agreed to pursue an ambitious agenda to accelerate our operational cooperation and defense industrial and technology collaboration to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific. The Secretary noted he looks forward to holding the next 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue and concluding the next ten-year U.S.-India Defense Framework this year.”

Following the conversation, Singh posted the following on X:

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“Had an excellent telephonic conversation with my US counterpart Mr Pete Hegseth today. Congratulated him on his confirmation as the new @SecDefon 25th January, 2025. We reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation and explored ways and means to expand and deepen the India – U.S. 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 Secreatry (sic) Hegseth.”

The Press Information Bureau of India, in its press release, noted the February 6 conversation, adding that, “The two Ministers reviewed the extensive India-US defence cooperation activities covering multiple domains in land, air, maritime and space. They appreciated the ongoing and remarkable expansion of the bilateral defence partnership, and reaffirmed their commitment to deepen the ties.”

The Indian press release went on to provide more details, saying, “In particular, the two Ministers decided to work together on technology cooperation, integration of defence industrial supply chains, enhanced interoperability, logistics & information sharing and joint military exercises. They also agreed to provide enhanced support to the growing defence innovation collaboration between the governments, start-ups, businesses and academic institutions. India and US agreed to work together to draft a comprehensive framework on defence cooperation, aimed at structuring the bilateral collaboration for the period 2025-2035.”