India designated as major US defence partner

08 December, New Delhi

India was Thursday designated as a major defence partner of the United States, it’s a status unique to India and institutionalizes the progress made to facilitate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level at par with that of the United States’ and ensures enduring cooperation in future.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter made an official visit to India at the invitation of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Thursday, marking the seventh interaction between the two leaders.

According to a joint statement issued in New Delhi today, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter reviewed the tremendous progress made in bilateral defence ties and discussed the immense promise for the future of India-U.S. security cooperation.

Both sides exchanged views on regional security issues including the threat posed by terrorism. They agreed to continue further strengthening the bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation and underlined the need to ensure that terror groups receive no patronage from any State.

He also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi this evening.