Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke to his US counterpart Pete Hegseth over 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.
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.
They also agreed to provide enhanced support to the growing defence innovation collaboration between the governments, start-ups, businesses and academic institutions, a statement said. India and US agreed to work together to draft a comprehensive framework on defence cooperation, aimed at structuring the bilateral collaboration for 2025-2035, it added.
Singh described the conversation as excellent.
“We reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation and explored ways and means to expand and deepen the India-US bilateral defence relationship. We also agreed to chart out an ambitious agenda which includes operational, intelligence, logistics and defence-industrial cooperation. Looking forward to work closely with Secretary Hegseth,” Singh wrote on X.
Both sides have made progress 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 roadmap, adopted in 2023, 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.
Last October, India signed a deal worth $3.5 billion with the US to acquire 31 MQ-9B drones to boost its defence preparedness, primarily with an eye on China. The agreement came after a deliberative process in New Delhi that spanned eight years, involved negotiations with two US administrations, incorporated the lease of two drones in this period, and required, at the American end, a challenging process of congressional approval.
Fifteen drones are meant for the navy, and eight each for the army and the air force.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is also negotiating a deal with US firm GE Aerospace for the joint production of F414 engines in India. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington in June 2023 to produce 99 F414 engines for India’s future LCA (light combat aircraft) Mk-2 programme.
The joint production of the engines will help the country overcome a striking technology gap, lay the foundation for indigenous development of bigger jet engines and possibly open doors to exports.