Foreign Secretary Kwatra meets U.S. Defence Deputy Secretary, discusses ways to strengthen defence partnership

India's Foreign Secretary meets U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense to discuss expanding bilateral military engagements and defense partnership.

India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has met U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks and they discussed the importance of expanding the scope of bilateral military engagements, the Pentagon said.

Mr. Kwatra is in the U.S. for a series of meetings with senior officials of the U.S. government and interaction with industry leaders to advance bilateral cooperation in areas like defence and technology.

The foreign secretary was on a three-day official visit to Washington and left for New York on April 12.

Ms. Hicks and Mr. Kwatra discussed priorities for strengthening the U.S.-India defence partnership, including the implementation of the roadmap for the U.S.-India Defense Industrial Cooperation, Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said.

The two officials underscored the historic momentum in the Major Defense Partnership in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to an official statement.

They applauded the efforts by both countries to advance the co-production of fighter jet engines and armoured vehicles, as well as the continued success of the India-U.S. Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) in promoting innovation and partnerships between U.S. and Indian researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors, it said.

They also spoke about the importance of expanding the scope of U.S.-India military engagements to strengthen cooperation across all domains while highlighting the shared efforts to promote stability and security in the Indo-Pacific, Mr. Pahon said.