According to the Department of Defense, Federal Defense Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated Pete Hegses in his first phone conversation after confirmation as US Secretary of Defense. The two ministers considered a wide range of Indian and US defense cooperation activities covering multiple domains of land, air, sea and space. They appreciated the continued and prominent expansion of the bilateral defense partnership and reaffirmed their commitment to bonding.
The two ministers have decided to cooperate in technical cooperation, integration of the defense industrial supply chain, improving interoperability, logistics and information sharing and joint military exercises, the Ministry of Defense added. They also agreed to provide enhanced support for growing defence innovation collaboration between governments, startups, businesses and academic institutions. India and the US have agreed to work together to draft a comprehensive framework on defense cooperation aimed at building bilateral cooperation between 2025 and 2035.
Singh described the conversation as excellent. “We reviewed ongoing defence cooperation, explored ways and means to expand and deepen India-US bilateral defence ties, and created ambitious agendas that include operations, intelligence, logistics and defense. I agreed to this. Industrial cooperation. The Minister of Defense said in a post on X.
India-US defense cooperation is based on the “New Framework for India-US defense cooperation,” which was updated for 10 years in 2015. In 2016, the defense relationship was designated as a major defense partnership (MDP).
On July 30, 2018, India was moved to TIER-1, an exception to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Strategic Trade Authorization License, according to the Foreign Office.
Defence cooperation is multifaceted and includes regular institutionalized bilateral dialogue, military exercises and defense procurement. At the pinnacle of the dialogue mechanism is the dialogue between the Foreign Minister and the 2+2 ministers co-chaired by the US Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense. This dialogue provides guidance on political, military and strategic issues. The fifth 2+2 minute dialogue took place in New Delhi in November 2023. The key defense agreements that provide a framework for interaction and cooperation are: Communication Compatibility and Security Agreements (2018); Industrial Security Agreements (2019); Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreements (2020) and Memorandum of Understanding Defense Innovation Cooperation (2018).
