India-US relations: Jaishankar meets Hegseth in Pentagon; calls defence ties 'consequential pillar'

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday (Tuesday in the US) held a bilateral meeting with American secretary of defence Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, where he underlined the strategic importance of India-US defence ties , describing them as "one of the most consequential pillars" of the bilateral relationship.

During the meeting at the Pentagon, the foreign minister said: "I am here for the QUAD meeting ... just had a good session with our colleagues from Australia, Japan. I am here with you at the Pentagon because we believe that our defence partnership is today truly one of the most consequential pillars of our relationship."

The meeting came on the heels of the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting (QFMM) in Washington, marking another key engagement in a series of high-level India-US interactions.


Hegseth expressed enthusiasm about the growing defence partnership between the two countries. He said the integration of US defence systems into India's armed forces and outlined the goal of expanding industrial cooperation and co-production networks.

"The US is very pleased for the successful integration of many US defence items... building on this progress, we hope we can complete several major pending US defence sales to India , expand our shared defence industrial cooperation and co-production networks, strengthen interoperability... and formally sign a new framework of US-India major defence partnership ," Hegseth said, according to news agency ANI.

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Hegseth said Washington was eager to work with New Delhi and that Jaishankar's visit was an "important milestone in the ongoing series of high-level engagements"

"We are eager to work alongside you to realise our shared goals. They are deep and ongoing. The visit today marks an important milestone in the ongoing series of high-level engagements between our two great countries," Hegseth said.

Jaishankar also met with US state secretary Marco Rubio on the sidelines of Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting (QFFM) in Washington and discussed bilateral partnership between both countries in the field of security, critical technologies, connectivity, energy and mobility.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States in February, he and President Donald Trump unveiled plans to formalise a new decade-long framework for the US-India major defence partnership.

The two leaders hailed the growing integration of American-made defence systems into India’s arsenal, a list that now includes C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, P-8I maritime patrol planes, CH-47F Chinook and MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, Harpoon missiles, M777 howitzers, and MQ-9B drones.

Looking ahead, both nations also agreed to fast-track procurement and co-production deals for Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and Stryker infantry combat vehicles within India, aiming to swiftly bolster New Delhi’s defense capabilities this year.

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