Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Pete Hegseth have agreed to prepare a 10 -year outline to further extend the defense and strategic relations between India and the US.
The decision on the defense structure was mentioned in a Pentagon statement, which was released on Wednesday. The statement came a day after the phone conversation between Singh and US Defense Minister Hegseth.
It said, “Secretary Hegseth and Minister Singh agreed to sign the next 10-year-old US-India Defense structure in their next meeting this year.”
It said that the two sides discussed the mandatory major US defense sales to India and the mandatory of intimate defense industrial cooperation between the two countries. Pentagon said, “Secretary Hegseth emphasized that America considers India its major defense partner in South Asia.”
It said that the two leaders reviewed the “considerable progress” made by the two countries towards achieving the defense goals set by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the joint statement of February 2025.
Without giving detailed information, the Pentagon said, “Both discussed the mandatory India defense sales to India and the imperative of close defense industrial cooperation between the two countries.”
People familiar with the case said that in a phone conversation on Tuesday, Singh urged Hegaseth that the GE F404 engine supply should be accelerated to provide strength to the Tejas light fighter aircraft.
He said that Singh also advocated soon to finalize the proposed deal between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and US defense company GE Aerospace for joint production of F414 jet engine in India.
HAL missed the time limit of supply of Tejas Mark 1A aircraft to the Indian Air Force due to delay in supply of F404 engine by GE Aerospace.
An Indian statement released on Tuesday said that Singh and Hegseth discussed extensive issues ranging from long-term cooperation in the defense sector, including training and military exchanges, to the expansion of industry cooperation.
The statement said, “He agreed to further the speed of this important and mutually beneficial partnership, such as inter-circulation, integration of defense industrial supply chains, logistics sharing, increase in joint military exercises and support on cooperation with other similar-ideological partners.”
