The United States on Monday appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin had a telephonic conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The two 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, the Ministry of Defence said.
The two ministers also discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues. 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 on Monday.
The duo had last met in New Delhi in November 2023 during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.