The imminent signing of a 10-year defense partnership framework will solidify growing ties between India and the United States, including joint military exercises, weapons sales and technology development, leaders say.
“Excellent discussion to review the ongoing and new initiatives to further deepen India-U.S. defence partnership and strengthen cooperation in capacity building,” Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated after a July 2025 call with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Conveyed my deep appreciation for the unwavering support extended by the U.S. to India in its fight against terrorism.”
That same day, Hegseth met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where they noted “mutual concern about the danger of aggression in the Asia-Pacific region,” according to the U.S. Defense Department.
The nations “boast a rich and growing history of cooperation driven by a shared commitment to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth told Jaishankar. “We’re eager to work alongside you to realize our shared goals. They’re deep and ongoing.”
As members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) with Australia and Japan, India and the U.S. partner in areas including maritime domain awareness, supply chain resilience, critical mineral development, emerging technology, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The Quad members also conduct the naval exercise Malabar, which India hosted in the Bay of Bengal in 2024. India-U.S. engagements, meanwhile, include the annual Tiger Triumph exercise. About 3,000 personnel, four ships and seven aircraft enhanced readiness and interoperability during the two-week drills in India in April 2025
New Delhi has grown increasingly concerned over China’s assertive moves in the Indian Ocean region and along the Line of Actual Control, the 3,400-kilometer-long de facto border that has seen deadly skirmishes between the world’s two most populous nations.
India is rapidly modernizing its armed forces, investing heavily in its defense industry while reducing its historical reliance on Russia for arms, a trend that accelerated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted international sanctions on Moscow and suspicions over the quality and reliability of its weapons exports.
New Delhi has turned to partners such as the U.S. for procurement and coproduction agreements. The Indian Armed Forces have integrated U.S.-made assets including transport and maritime surveillance aircraft, attack helicopters, uncrewed aerial vehicles, and armored vehicles, as well as munitions such as howitzers and antiship missiles, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
“And building on this progress, we hope we can complete several major pending U.S. defense sales to India, expand our shared defense industrial cooperation and coproduction efforts, [and] strengthen interoperability … between our forces,” Hegseth said.
Jaishankar called the defense partnership “one of the most consequential pillars” of the bilateral relationship.
“It’s not built merely on shared interests, but we believe really deepening convergence and of capabilities, of responsibilities,” he said. “And what we do in the Indo-Pacific, we believe, is absolutely crucial to its strategic stability.”
