Rajnath, new US defense secy discuss cooperation

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke to his US counterpart Pete Hegseth over the phone and reviewed bilateral defence cooperation, with focus on multiple domains in land, air, maritime and space, even as the two leaders agreed to deepen collaboration in areas including technology, integration of defence industrial supply chains, interoperability, logistics and information sharing, and joint military exercises.

- Rahul Singh

NEW DELHI:

This was their first conversation after Hegseth took over as defence secretary and came in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US next week.

"The two ministers appreciated the ongoing and remarkable expansion of the bilateral defence partnership and reaffirmed their commitment to deepen the ties," the defence ministry said.

The US department of defense confirmed the call. "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," spokesperson John Ullyot was quoted in a readout.

"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."