Rajnath Singh, Hegseth discuss boosting Indo-US defence industry ties

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday spoke to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and appreciated the "unwavering support" the US extended to India in its fight against terrorism.

In their phone conversation, Singh and Hegseth discussed a wide range of issues -- from long-term cooperation in the defence sector, including training and military exchanges, to expanding industry collaborations.

"Excellent discussion to review the ongoing and new initiatives to further deepen India-US defence partnership and strengthen cooperation in capacity building," Singh said in a social media post.

"Conveyed my deep appreciation for the unwavering support extended by the US to India in its fight against terrorism. Looking forward to meet him at an early date," he said.

The defence ministry said Singh and Hegseth agreed to further build upon the momentum of the "critical and mutually beneficial" partnership across all its pillars.

"The two leaders discussed a wide canvas of issues ranging from long-term cooperation in the defence sector, including training and military exchanges, to expanding the industry collaboration," it said in a statement.

"They agreed to further build upon the momentum of this critical and mutually beneficial partnership across all its pillars such as interoperability, integration of defence industrial supply chains, logistics sharing, increased joint military exercises and cooperation with other like-minded partners," the ministry said.

It said the defence minister appreciated the unwavering support extended by the US to India for its fight against terrorism.

"He complimented the US Secretary of Defence for his dynamic leadership which has propelled defence cooperation between the US and India to new levels," the ministry said.

Hegseth invited Singh to the US for an in-person meeting to take the bilateral defence partnership forward, the ministry added. It was the third telephone conversation between Singh and Hegseth since January this year.