Jaishankar, US’ Austin Pledge To Boost Bilateral Defence Industrial Cooperation

In order to foster closer operational coordination between the Indian and American forces, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar pledged to enhance information exchange and logistical collaboration.

Jaishankar, who is in Washington for a four-day official visit, travelled to the Pentagon on Monday. 

The two leaders met and explored new prospects for bilateral defence industrial collaboration and would strengthen New Delhi's role as a regional security provider. They also discussed the priority lines of work to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, according to the statement by Pentagon.

The statement stated that the US and India are collaborating more closely in space, cyber, artificial intelligence and other technologies.

The importance of the growing cooperation between partners in the United States, India, Australia, Japan and Europe was emphasised by the leaders during the meeting.

The Pentagon stated that the US looks forward to cooperating with India and other like-minded nations in this regard to advance security, economic growth and openness throughout the region (Indo-Pacific), primarily through the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness.

According to the Pentagon, they discussed various topics of mutual interest, including current events in East Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the international fallout from the Ukraine crisis and also reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate as staunch partners to achieve the US and India's shared vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.