Amid military drill, Rajnath & Austin discuss boosting ties | India News

NEW DELHI: India and the US discussed steps to further strengthen their strategic-military partnership in a telephonic conversation between their defence ministers on Monday, even as the two countries also kicked off their major ‘Tiger Triumph’ tri-service exercise with warships, aircraft, helicopters and troops in the Bay of Bengal.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin discussed a range of bilateral, regional security & defence cooperation issues, including their commitment for a free and open Indo-Pacific.“They reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X summit in Delhi in Feb and the ‘Tiger Triumph’ exercise,” an official said.

“Austin appreciated the role being played by Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in Indian Ocean Region. The ministers also discussed ways and means to implement the India-US defence cooperation roadmap,” he said.
Under the roadmap finalised last June to fast-track technology collaboration and co-production, the priority areas identified are air combat and support, including aero-engines; ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) systems; ground mobility systems; undersea domain awareness; and smart munitions, including long-range artillery ammunition.
While commercial negotiations for co-production of GE-F414 jet engines for Tejas Mark-II fighters in India are in the final stages now, India and the US are also exploring the joint production of Stryker armoured fighting vehicles, as reported by TOI earlier.
In the Tiger Triumph exercise, which will continue till March 31, the US has deployed its naval ships like the USS Somerset with troops from the Marine Corps and Army embarked on them.
India, in turn, has fielded warships with integral helicopters and landing crafts, IAF and Navy aircraft and helicopters, and Army troops for the drills that aim to build military interoperability for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.