Rajnath Singh meets Pete Hegseth as India, United States sign 10-year defence framework pact

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tariff troubles, India and USA on Friday signed a 10-year framework agreement on defence cooperation that is likely to augment closeness between the two military and expand the presence of American defence majors in the lucrative Indian market.

Signing the document at Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting - Plus (ADMM-Plus), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the agreement would herald a new decade of partnership between the two nations. The two leaders also had delegation-level and one-to-one talks.

“Defence will remain as the major pillar of our bilateral relations. Our partnership is critical for ensuring a free, open and rules-bound Indo-Pacific region,” Rajnath said.

His counterpart and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said India is a priority country for the US in defence cooperation and they were committed to work closely with India to ensure a “free and open Indo-Pacific” – an oblique reference to China’s muscle flexing.

“This advances our defence partnership, a cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence. We're enhancing our coordination, information sharing, and technology cooperation. Our defence ties have never been stronger,” Hegseth said in a social media post.

The agreement is a renewal of a previous pact inked in 2015. Similar accords were inked in earlier decades too, but around 10 years ago, the USA designated India a "Major Defence Partner" paving way for sharing of critical military equipment and technology.

In July when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Hegseth in Washington, renewal of the 10-year framework agreement was among the issues they discussed.

"We can complete several major pending US defense sales to India, expand our shared defense industrial cooperation and co-production efforts, strengthen interoperability between our forces, and then formally sign a new 10-year Framework for the US-India Major Defense Partnership, which we hope to do very soon," Hegseth had stated.

During a meeting in February between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two top leaders announced plans to pursue new procurement and co-production arrangements for Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and Stryker armored vehicles. They also discussed procurement of six additional P-8I maritime patrol aircraft.

India has already integrated various US-made weapons systems into its military including C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III and P-8I Poseidon aircraft, besides CH-47F Chinook, MH-60R Sea Hawk and AH-64E Apache helicopters. New Delhi also uses Harpoon anti-ship missiles, M777 lightweight howitzers and MQ-9B Sky Guardians UAVs.

“The 2025 framework marks a new chapter to further transform the partnership over the next 10 years. It is intended to provide a unified vision and policy direction to deepen defence cooperation,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.