India, US laud strides in defence cooperation

Defence minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Lloyd J Austin met at Vientiane in Laos and hailed the impressive strides in the India-US defence partnership, pivoting on increased operational coordination, information-sharing, and industrial collaboration and innovation.

- Rahul Singh

"Both sides recognised the remarkable progress made under the US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, including ongoing collaboration to advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems," the defence ministry said in a statement issued in New Delhi.

Singh and Austin held talks on the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus.

The roadmap, adopted last year, seeks to fast-track technology cooperation and co-production in critical areas including air combat and land mobility systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, munitions, and the undersea domain.