WASHINGTON, Sept 26: India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has met with US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks at the Pentagon and discussed priorities for strengthening the US-India defence partnership through defence industrial cooperation, technology innovation and operational cooperation, a statement said.
After the meeting, Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said Hicks thanked Misri for India’s strong support of the maritime security and logistics initiatives announced at the Quad Leaders’ Summit last weekend.
“She noted that the United States and India continue to break new ground in areas of cooperation that will enhance the security of both countries, as well as the broader Indo-Pacific region,” Pahon said.
The two leaders discussed ongoing efforts to co-produce jet engines, land mobility systems and munitions, as well as the continued progress through the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) to foster joint innovation among defence industry stakeholders in both countries.
“Hicks highlighted the success of the recent INDUS-X Summit, which resulted in the announcement of a new joint innovation challenge for space domain technologies, as well as an upgraded memorandum of understanding between the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Indian defence ministry’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) office,” Pahon said.
The two officials also discussed regional security issues and a range of operational cooperation initiatives aimed at promoting stability and security in the Indo-Pacific.
“Hicks expressed the importance of continuing to advance progress across all areas of the major defence partnership, and pledged to deepen cooperation to promote a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the spokesperson said. (PTI)
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