New Delhi, Mar 18 (Agency) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and both briefly discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues. According to an official statement, they reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X Summit held in New Delhi in February 2024, and the bilateral Tri-Service exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ which commenced in India today. The US Secretary of Defence appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region.
The two Ministers discussed ways and means to implement the India-US Defence Cooperation Roadmap which was concluded last year. Other defence industrial cooperation issues such as repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards were also briefly discussed. It may be mentioned that both the Ministers had last met in New Delhi in November 2023 during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.