NEW DELHI: Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed on Friday a 10-year defense framework to expand cooperation, marking a “new era” in bilateral ties amid tensions over Washington’s tariff war.
The defense chiefs signed the framework for the US-India Major Defense Partnership, which is expected to provide policy direction for their ties, on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur.
“This will usher in a new era in our already strong defense partnership … It is a signal of our growing strategic convergence and will herald a new decade of partnership,” Singh said in a statement on X.
“Defense will remain as a major pillar of our bilateral relations. Our partnership is critical for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.”
The agreement comes as the two countries are working on closing a trade deal amid tense ties after US President Donald Trump slapped 50 percent tariffs on India, including a 25 percent penalty for importing Russian oil.
Hegseth wrote on X that the framework was a “cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence” and will increase India-US intelligence and tech collaboration.
“We’re enhancing our coordination, info sharing, and tech cooperation. Our defense ties have never been stronger,” he said.
The pact signed on Friday is an extension of a similar agreement inked in 2015, which had covered joint technology development, defense trade and military exchanges.
Plans for the extension were announced in February, when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump in Washington.
They pledged during their meeting “to elevate military cooperation across all domains — air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace — through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies,” according to a joint statement.
“India-US strategic relationship, particularly defense relationship, is on track and so that shows the common concern of both the countries, which is basically driven by the Chinese threat,” Laxman Kumar Behera, a research fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, told Arab News.
“This comes at a very difficult time (because of trade tensions), and unlike in the last time, when the relationship was quite good … but nonetheless this agreement shows that the strategic relationship is still intact, despite the economic relation is in little trouble.”
The new pact is likely to benefit both Washington and Delhi in terms of more support to counter Chinese growth and influence over the Indo-Pacific region, said Bharat Karnad, an emeritus professor for national security studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.
“Considering how fast the Chinese Navy is growing, it is the largest navy in the world right now … Everybody needs help. The Americans need our help because we are locationally right there. We are a principal player in the Indo (Pacific) ocean basin,” he told Arab News.
“While we require the help in terms of, you know, their satellite intelligence … They have enormous satellite constellations that can pick up Chinese naval movements and so on, much farther than our own satellite constellation can pick up those kinds of things. So, you know, it is very helpful.”
