The United States and India have announced the renewal of a 10-year defense framework agreement, marking a new high in strategic cooperation between the two countries. Despite trade friction between the US and India, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that their military ties remain unprecedentedly close.
On Friday, Hegseth met with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and signed the agreement, marking the first face-to-face meeting between the two officials.
Hegseth stated that the US-India partnership is one of the “most important partnerships in the world.”
“The new 10-year defense framework that we are signing is ambitious, marking an important step for both militaries and providing a blueprint for deeper and more meaningful cooperation in the future,” he said.
Singh expressed that the framework will “open new doors” for bilateral relations.
Following the meeting, Hegseth announced the news on the social platform X. The statement declared that the framework is the “cornerstone of regional stability and deterrence,” aiming to deepen coordination, information sharing, and technological cooperation between the two countries’ militaries over the next decade.
The meeting took place between the 19th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-PLUS) in Kuala Lumpur.
The signing of the US-India defense agreement highlights the importance of strategic cooperation between the two nations within a broader geopolitical context. Washington has long viewed India as a crucial force in balancing threats from China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Earlier on the same day, Hegseth expressed serious concerns about Chinese naval activities around Taiwan and the South China Sea during his meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun.
While stating that the US is not seeking conflict, Hegseth emphasized a firm commitment to defending its interests and ensuring its capability to maintain interests in the region. He also added that the US will continue consultations with the Chinese military on issues of common concern.
On Monday, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar also met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the same city.
During the meeting, Rubio described the deep, longstanding, and significant relationship and friendship between the US and India and assured that US interactions with Pakistan would not harm US-India relations.
Despite the close strategic cooperation at the military level, trade tensions between the US and India have escalated rapidly in recent months. This is due to the Trump administration’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Indian products in an effort to persuade India to stop buying Russian oil.
However, earlier this month, Trump announced that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to halt purchasing oil from Russia. There are hopes that as India gradually ceases buying Russian energy, US-India relations may also thaw.