12 hours ago
Pentagon Confirms 10-Year India-US Defence Framework Aimed at Deepening Ties
India and US likely to sign new defence framework at next Rajnath Singh Pete Hegseth meet.
India and the US will ink a new India US defence framework when Singh meets his US counterpart later this year, according to a Pentagon official.
The U.S.-India Defence Framework was noted in an official readout published by the Pentagon on Wednesday. 'The two leaders agreed to sign the India US defence contract next 10-year India-U.S. defense pact at their upcoming meeting this year.'
'The two sides had a productive discussion, including an overview of the accomplishments made since the release of the February 2025 2+2 ministerial statement in further strengthening Rajnath Singh defence ties,' the readout said.
'The Pentagon said the two sides discussed significant upcoming U.S. defense sales to India and the importance of continued India US defence cooperation,' it added, without elaborating.
India Asks US to Expedite Delivery of GE F404 Engines for Tejas Jets.
During the phone call on Tuesday, Singh had also asked Hegseth to expedite the delivery of GE F404 engines needed for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), people familiar with the development told PTI.
Singh also 'underscored the need to expedite the finalization of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and GE Aerospace for the joint production of F414 jet engines' which is 'expected to be a significant element of apache helicopter India deal,' sources familiar with the development told The EurAsian Times.
The delayed supply of F404 engines by GE Aerospace has led to the state-run aerospace major missing its deadline to deliver Tejas Mark 1A aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
On Tuesday, the Indian readout of the Singh–Hegseth meeting said the two 'discussed a range of issues related to defence cooperation, including sustained military-to-military cooperation, capacity building through training and exchanges, and enhanced engagement between the two defence industries.'
