Reserve right to pre-emptive hits on terror, Rajnath tells US
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In a 20-minute telephonic conversation with US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth, defence minister
also made it clear that India's actions were "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and focused" on disabling terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and POK when it launched
on May 7, sources told TOI. While India believes Pakistan has become a safe haven for terrorists as internationally banned terrorists enjoy immunity there, Trump had praised both Munir as well as PM Modi as "two very smart people" for ending May 7-10 hostilities.
Deliver Tejas engines on priority, Rajnath tells US
Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has continued with his rant against India, reaffirming Pakistan's commitment to providing support to the Kashmiri people for their "legitimate struggle".
Singh, on his part, told Hegseth that India appreciates the unwavering support extended by the US for its fight against terrorism.
"On defence cooperation, the two agreed to further build upon the momentum of this critical and mutually beneficial partnership across all its pillars such as interoperability, integration of defence industrial supply chains, logistics sharing, increased joint military exercises and cooperation with other like-minded partners," an official said.
Singh asked Hegseth to ensure faster deliveries of the long-delayed General Electric GE-F404 engines for the indigenous Tejas-Mark 1A fighters as well as the early conclusion of the agreement to jointly produce the more powerful GE-F414 engines in India.
The defence minister also pushed for the delivery of the six Apache heavy-duty attack helicopters that the Indian Army had ordered in a Rs 5,691 crore deal in Feb 2020 but is yet to get.
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"The six Apaches will now be delivered before this year ends," another official said. The almost two-year delay in delivery of 99 GE-F404 engines by US firm General Electric, which Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had ordered for Rs 5,375 crore in Aug 2021, is one of the main reasons for not even the first Tejas Mark-1A fighter to be delivered to the IAF yet. After the 83 "improved" Tejas Mark-1A jets are delivered under the defence ministry's Rs 46,898 crore deal inked with HAL in Feb 2021, another 97 of those jets for Rs 67,000 crore will also be in the pipeline.
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