By Manjeet Negi: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Monday met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at the latter’s office in New Delhi on Monday.
During the meeting, several issues, including cooperation in specific niche technologies in the maritime, military and aerospace domains to boost capabilities were discussed.
Greater transfer of technology, co-production and building indigenous capacities in line with India’s Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives were discussed according to the press statement released after the meeting.
The two leaders also discussed geopolitics to ensure that countries in different regions – Middle East, South Asia & South East Asia and Indo-Pacific – retain their freedom of action in line with their national priorities and are not coerced into poor choices.
The two leaders also agreed to focus on trusted sources of supply, resilient supply chains and greater industry-to-industry partnerships. They also discussed taking a strategic approach to global challenges through government efforts, including people-to-people and societal relations.
Earlier, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, who arrived in India on a two-day visit, met his Indian counterpart, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in the latter’s office in the South Block of Delhi.
After the meeting, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin tweeted and said, “Great to meet again with my friend Rajnath Singh and thank him for his unwavering commitment to U.S.-India defence relations.”
“His leadership has helped in paving the way for deeper collaboration, joint exercises, and technology sharing between our two countries.” Lloyd Austin added in his tweet.
