US Defence Secy meets Rajnath, says India ‘central pillar’ in US approach in Indo-Pacific

Austin arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit as part of his three-nation first overseas tour that signalled the Biden administration's strong commitment to its relations with its close allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

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   India and the US on Saturday resolved to further expand their robust defence ties through deeper military-to-military engagement and logistic support, with the US describing the partnership as a "stronghold" of a free and open Indo-Pacific amidst China's growing assertiveness in the region. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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   The United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, following his meeting with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday, said India is an important ally in the rapidly shifting international dynamics and his visit to New Delhi conveys the Joe Biden administration’s “strong commitment towards their partners in the region”. Austin arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit as part of his three-nation first overseas tour that signalled the Biden administration's strong commitment to its relations with its close allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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   Giving out details regarding the meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in his statement, said a range of issues was discussed with a focus on “enhancing defence information sharing, cooperation in emerging domains of defence, mutual logistics support, and expanding military to military engagements across services. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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   With China looking to expand its influence over the region, both Austin and Rajnath said they will be engaging with “like-minded partners”. The meet comes barely a week after the first Quad summit that was attended by Prime Minister Modi, US President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian PM Scott Morrison. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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   It is learnt that India's plan to procure around 30 multi-mission armed Predator drones from the US for the three services at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion also figured in the talks. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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   The US Defence Secretary began his statement by condoling the death of a Group Captain of the Indian Air Force in a crash involving a Mig-21 Bison aircraft in Gwalior this week. The issue of India procuring a batch of S-400 air-defence missiles from Russia is learnt to have figured in the talks. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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   Indo-US cooperation on defence and intelligence has been of very high quality in the last 10 months, and involved sharing of high-end satellite images, telephone intercepts, and data exchange on Chinese troops and weapon deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)