India-US defence partnership one of most consequential pillars of relationship: EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said defence partnership between India and the United States is one of the most consequential pillars of the relationship.

“Now, I am here for the QUAD meeting – just had a good session with Senator Rubio, and our colleagues from Australia and Japan. But I am also here with you at the Pentagon, because we believe that our defence partnership is today truly one of the most consequential pillars of the relationship,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks during a meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

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“It is not built merely on shared interests, but we believe really in deepening convergence of capabilities, of responsibilities, and what we do in the Indo – Pacific, we believe is absolutely crucial to its strategic stability,” the external affairs minister said.

“There is a lot that we will and we should be talking about today, but I do particularly want to recognise that the signing of foundational agreements—especially Security of Supplies Agreement (SOSA) recently, of our expanding defence trade, of our cooperation in Underwater Domain Awareness, autonomous systems, and the momentum in the India-United States Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X)— I think all of these really speak of our deepening partnership,” Jaishankar said.