Rajnath, Austin support free and open Indo-Pacific amid China’s aggressive moves
India and US signed two key agreements to bolster defence cooperation—the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) to ensure the mutual supply of defence goods.
New Delhi: Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on Friday discussed ongoing efforts to deepen the major defence partnership between the two countries in support of a “free and open Indo-Pacific region”, the Pentagon said.
The two leaders also agreed to advance priority co-production projects, including jet engines, unmanned platforms, munitions, and ground mobility systems, under the US-India Roadmap for Defense Industrial Cooperation adopted last year.
“Secretary Austin and minister Singh celebrated progress across several bilateral defense initiatives, including efforts to increase supply chain security, enhance maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, and leverage a new agreement to strengthen operational coordination through Indian liaison officers at US commands,” Pentagon press secretary major general Pat Ryder said in a statement.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific at a time when China is seeking to expand its footprint in the vast region by setting up military bases, bullying countries to advance its unlawful maritime claims, and ensnaring vulnerable states in unsustainable debts to force strategic concessions, Ryder said.
Austin lauded the Indian Navy’s “robust contributions to upholding freedom of navigation and regional security” through its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces and welcomed India assuming a leadership role in Combined Task Force 150 in 2025.
The two ministers reviewed mutual efforts through the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative to provide Indian Ocean Region partners with unclassified, commercial satellite data to enhance their maritime security and ability to detect illicit activity, the statement said.
The statement further said that the two countries also advanced discussions to expand cooperation in the undersea and space domains.
On Friday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken approved a possible foreign military sale to India of anti-submarine warfare sonobuoys and related equipment for an estimated cost of $52.8 million. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has delivered the required certification, notifying Congress of the possible sale.
The equipment will improve the Indian Navy’s capability to meet threats by enhancing its capacity to conduct anti-submarine warfare operations from its US-origin MH-60R helicopters.
The Pentagon statement follows an Indian defence ministry release on Singh-Austin talks.
They met a day after India and the US signed two key agreements to bolster defence cooperation—the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) to ensure the mutual supply of defence goods and services to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions and a memorandum of agreement regarding the assignment of liaison officers to enhance cooperation and interoperability.
Singh arrived in Washington on Thursday on a four-day official visit.
