Rajnath speaks to US Defence Secretary Hegseth focusing on deepening industrial cooperation

New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday urged his American counterpart Pete Hegseth to expedite the delivery of GE F404 engines to power the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, people familiar with the matter said.

In a phone conversation with Hegseth, Singh also pitched for early finalisation of a proposed deal between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and US defence major GE Aerospace for joint production of F414 jet engines in India, they said.

The delays in supply of F404 engines by GE Aerospace has resulted in HAL missing the deadline to supply Tejas Mark 1A aircraft to the Indian Air Force.

In the phone conversation, Singh appreciated the "unwavering support" the US extended to India in its fight against terrorism.

The two leaders also discussed a wide canvas of issues ranging from long-term cooperation in the defence sector, including training and military exchanges, to expanding industry collaborations.

"Excellent discussion to review the ongoing and new initiatives to further deepen India-US defence partnership and strengthen cooperation in capacity building," Singh said in a social media post.

"Conveyed my deep appreciation for the unwavering support extended by the US to India in its fight against terrorism. Looking forward to meet him at an early date," he said.

The defence ministry said Singh and Hegseth agreed to further build upon the momentum of the "critical and mutually beneficial" partnership across all its pillars.

"The two leaders discussed a wide canvas of issues ranging from long-term cooperation in the defence sector, including training and military exchanges, to expanding the industry collaboration," it said in a statement.

"They agreed to further build upon the momentum of this critical & 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," the ministry said.

It said the defence minister appreciated the unwavering support extended by the US to India for its fight against terrorism.

"He complimented the US Secretary of Defence for his dynamic leadership which has propelled defence cooperation between US and India to new levels," the ministry said.

Hegseth invited Singh to the US for an in-person meeting to take the bilateral defence partnership forward, it added.

It was the third telephone conversation between Singh and Hegseth since January this year. PTI MPB KVK KVK