NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajanth Singh and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had a telephonic conversation on Monday ahead of the scheduled US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the first in-person summit of the Quad state heads on September 24.
Singh and his US counterpart discussed a range of bilateral issues and the prevailing situation in Afghanistan. “We’ve agreed to continue the useful dialogue. We look forward to strengthening the partnership further,” Singh later tweeted.
It was their first conversation after the Taliban seized Afghanistan on August 15. India has been inviting the US defence firms to invest in the country while asserting that there is a lot of scope for the American and Indian defence equipment manufacturers for co-production and co-development.
Speaking during the inaugural address at the 18th India-US Economic Summit, the defence minister stated that the initiatives taken by the government had transformed India into a strong and reliable investment destination.