NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation, meanwhile Foreign Minister Jaishankar met the US Secretary of State in US.
The Ministry of Defence said that the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues, including long-term cooperation in the defence sector, training and military exchanges to expanding the industry collaboration.
"They agreed to further build upon the momentum of this critical & mutually beneficial partnership across all its pillars such as interoperability, integration of defence industrial supply chains, logistics sharing, increased joint military exercises and cooperation with other like-minded partners," MoD said.
The Defence Minister appreciated the unwavering support extended by the US to India for its fight against terrorism. He complimented the US Secretary of Defense for his dynamic leadership which has propelled defence cooperation between US and India to new levels.
MoD informed that Pete Hegseth invited Rajnath Singh to US for an in-person meeting to take the bilateral defence partnership forward.
In a post on X, Shri Rajnath Singh stated that the discussions were held to review the ongoing and new initiatives to further deepen India-US defence partnership and strengthen cooperation in capacity building. He also stated that looked forward to meeting the US Secretary of Defense at an early date.
This was their third telephonic conversation since January this year, when Mr Pete Hegseth was confirmed as US Secretary of Defense.