Rajnath Singh, Lloyd Austin discuss deeper ties in support of free, open Indo-Pacific

Washington, Aug 24 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Lloyd Austin on Friday discussed "ongoing efforts to deepen the Major Defense Partnership between the United States and India in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region", according to a statement from the US Department of Defense. 

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a readout of the meeting on Friday that the two officials "celebrated progress across several bilateral defence initiatives, including efforts to increase supply chain security, enhance maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, and leverage a new agreement to strengthen operational coordination through Indian liaison officers at US commands".

The phrase "free and open Indo-Pacific" was defined by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in his 2022 speech as "one which is built on a rules-based international order, sustainable and transparent infrastructure investment, freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, mutual respect for sovereignty, peaceful resolution of disputes, as well as equality of all nations".

Earlier in a post on social media platform X, Defence Minister Singh described the meeting as "excellent" and hailed the signing of two defence agreements with the US during his ongoing visit as "pathbreaking". "We reviewed the existing defence cooperation activities and discussed ways to deepen it further," he said in the post.

"The signing of Security of Supply Arrangements and the agreement for positioning of Indian officers at key US commands are path-breaking developments," the Defence Minister added.

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 it's 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.

The Pentagon Press Secretary said in the readout that the two officials "agreed to advance priority co-production projects, including jet engines, unmanned platforms, munitions, and ground mobility systems, under the U.S.-India Roadmap for Defense Industrial Cooperation. They further advanced discussions to expand cooperation in the undersea and space domains and welcomed ongoing implementation of the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), which will convene its third summit in Silicon Valley this September".

The two officials also lauded the Indian Navy's robust contributions to upholding freedom of navigation and regional security through its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces and welcomed India assuming a leadership role in Combined Task Force 150 in 2025, the Pentagon press secretary said further. They also reviewed mutual efforts through the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative to provide Indian Ocean Region partners with unclassified, commercial satellite data to enhance their maritime security and ability to detect illicit activity

Defence Minister Singh also visited the Arlington National Cemetery and paid his respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

--IANS

yrj/sha