What happened?
Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke with U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth over the phone on February 06, 2025. Singh congratulated Hegseth on his confirmation and further discussed ways to strengthen the India-US bilateral defence partnership. Both leaders agreed on an ambitious operational, intelligence, logistics, and defence-industrial cooperation agenda.
Why it matters to India:
The phone discussion took place less than a week before Prime Minister Modi’s scheduled visit to Washington, where he is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump. Over the past decade, India and the U.S. have significantly deepened their defence collaboration, launching several initiatives to enhance bilateral ties. The India-US strategic partnership is built on shared values, including a commitment to democracy and a rules-based international order.
India and the U.S. are now actively collaborating on technology development, integration of defence industrial supply chains, enhanced interoperability, logistics and information sharing, and joint military exercises. Both sides also support innovation in defence through government, start-ups, businesses, and academic partnerships. India and the US have also agreed to draft a comprehensive framework for defence cooperation, shaping bilateral collaboration from 2025 to 2035.