Defence minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Lloyd Austin on Friday held wide-ranging talks at the Pentagon in Washington to deepen the bilateral relationship, with the dialogue putting the spotlight on a raft of issues including defence cooperation, industrial collaboration, regional security, the Indo-Pacific region and other pressing international matters.

Washington: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, in Washington, USA, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (PTI Photo)(PTI)

They met a day after India and the US signed two key agreements to bolster defence cooperation — the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) to ensure the mutual supply of defence goods and services to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions, and a memorandum of agreement regarding the assignment of liaison officers to enhance cooperation, understanding, interoperability and sharing of information on matters of mutual interest.

Singh arrived in Washington on Thursday on a four-day official visit.

“Both ministers expressed happiness on the conclusion of SOSA, which encourages the defence industrial ecosystems of both countries to work together and enhances the supply chain resilience,” said a defence ministry statement issued in New Delhi.

They also welcomed the signing of the second agreement under which India will deploy its first liaison officer to the US Special Operations Command, it added.

The command is headquartered at the MacDill air force base in Florida.

“Excellent meeting with my dear friend @SecDef Lloyd Austin. We reviewed the existing defence cooperation activities and discussed ways to deepen it further. The signing of Security of Supply Arrangement and the agreement for positioning of Indian officers at key US commands are pathbreaking developments,” Singh wrote on X.

During the talks, Singh highlighted the co-development and co-production opportunities in India in the areas identified in the India-US defence industrial cooperation road map adopted last year. The road map 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.

The two ministers reviewed and appreciated the progress made in operationalising the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, a Quad initiative for real-time, integrated and cost-effective maritime domain awareness in the crucial region. The Quad nations are India, the US, Japan, and Australia.

This comes at a time when China is seeking to expand its footprint in the region by setting up military bases, bullying countries to advance its unlawful maritime claims and ensnaring vulnerable states in unsustainable debts to force strategic concessions.

“They welcomed the ongoing Indian participation in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and noted that India shall deploy its navy personnel in CMF’s Combined Task Force 150 headquarters in 2025,” the Indian statement said.

In April, INS Talwar seized 940 kg of drugs in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy’s first interdiction of illicit narcotics as a member of the CMF, a 45-nation naval partnership.

The Indian Navy joined CMF in November 2023.

The two ministers commended the efforts of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) for establishing a defence innovation bridge between the two countries, with the involvement of start-ups, industry, academia, and both governments with the goal of accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and enhancing warfighting capabilities of both sides.