US Defence Secy lauds Indian Navy’s role in anti-piracy ops

Since December, there has been a spike in piracy incidents in the IOR and the Navy has carried out a series of anti-piracy operations in the region and has significantly upped its surveillance. “The two ministers discussed ways and means to implement the India-US Defence Cooperation Roadmap, which was concluded last year,” a statement said, adding that other defence industrial cooperation issues such as repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards were also briefly discussed.

Both reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X Summit held in New Delhi last month and the bilateral Tri-Service exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ that began in India on Monday.

In a statement, the Pentagon said both sides discussed the growing momentum in the Major Defense Partnership between the US and India in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“The two officials lauded progress on bilateral defence initiatives following the fifth annual US-India 2+2 ministerial dialogue in November 2023, including US support for India’s military modernisation, initiatives to drive forward the US-India Roadmap for Defense Industrial Cooperation, strengthening maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean Region, and India’s support for the rule of law in the Arabian Sea and adjacent waterways,” it said.

It added that cutting-edge defence innovation propelled by the partnership between US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit and Indian Ministry of Defense’s Innovations for Defense Excellence were also discussed.