NEW DELHI, Oct. 6
India and the United States discussed ways to strengthen defence and strategic cooperation on Tuesday as Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh met Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the US Pacific Command, during his six-day visit to India.
The two sides reviewed bilateral defence ties and exchanged views on regional and global security issues, continuing a series of high-level engagements involving Paparo and India’s senior military and diplomatic leadership.
The Defence Ministry said the talks focused on strengthening India-US defence and strategic cooperation, though it did not announce any new agreement following the meeting.
Paparo arrived in New Delhi on October 3 for a six-day official visit focused on expanding defence engagement between the two countries.
His discussions have covered maritime security, emerging technologies, digital transformation, regional strategic stability, defence energy resilience and cooperation in an increasingly competitive technology environment.
The visit has also brought Paparo into discussions with India’s top military leadership.
On Monday, he joined Chief of Defence Staff General N S Raja Subramani, Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth, Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Tejinder Singh and other senior defence officials.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described the engagement as reflecting the growing scope of the India-US Major Defence Partnership.
Paparo oversees the US Pacific Command, Washington’s largest and oldest geographic combatant command, with responsibility for a vast area stretching across much of the Indo-Pacific. The command comprises about 400,000 military and civilian personnel.
The scale of Paparo’s command makes his engagement with India’s defence leadership particularly relevant to bilateral discussions on maritime security and regional stability.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also met Paparo during the visit.
Jaishankar said their discussions covered advancing the India-US security partnership and strengthening maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Maritime security has become one of the central elements of India-US defence engagement as both countries expand military-to-military cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.
The relationship now covers a broad range of areas, including joint military exercises, maritime domain awareness, logistics, defence technology and industrial cooperation.
Paparo’s meetings come as New Delhi and Washington continue to deepen their defence relationship while also managing differences in other areas of the bilateral partnership.
The discussions during his visit have placed particular emphasis on emerging technology, an area that has increasingly become intertwined with both military capability and strategic competition.
Digital transformation and advanced technologies are changing how armed forces operate, while secure technology supply chains and defence-industrial capacity are becoming important elements of national security planning.
The US side has said the two countries are working to build a defence partnership capable of addressing future challenges, with emerging technology and maritime security among the priority areas.
For India, cooperation with the United States forms one component of a wider strategy of maintaining multiple defence and strategic partnerships while retaining strategic autonomy.
The two countries have steadily expanded interoperability between their armed forces through exercises, information-sharing mechanisms and enabling agreements over the past decade.
Their naval forces have also increased engagement through bilateral and multilateral exercises, including the Malabar series.
Paparo’s visit is therefore less about a single agreement than about maintaining high-level military dialogue across an increasingly broad strategic agenda.
The meetings with India’s Defence Secretary, External Affairs Minister and senior military leadership provide both sides an opportunity to assess existing cooperation and identify areas where operational and technological engagement can be expanded.
No specific new defence procurement, military deployment or formal bilateral agreement was announced following Tuesday’s meeting.
The visit will continue until October 8, with further engagements expected as India and the United States explore the next phase of their defence and strategic partnership.
