US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to pay 2-day visit to India from June 4

A host of defence cooperation issues, with a focus on industrial cooperation, are likely to be discussed during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's meetings with Austin

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will pay a two-day visit to India beginning Sunday, more than two weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled trip to Washington.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Austin will hold talks on Monday on a host of issues relating to bilateral defence cooperation, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The US Defence Secretary will arrive in India on Sunday from Singapore on a two-day visit, it said.

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It will be Austin's second visit to India. His previous trip to the country was in March 2021.

The ministry said Germany's Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius will also visit New Delhi for bilateral talks with Singh that will take place on June 6.

A host of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with a focus on industrial cooperation, are likely to be discussed during Singh's meetings with Austin and Pistorius, it said.