Discussed opportunities to strengthen US-India strategic ties with Jaishankar: Defence Secy Austin

United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin termed his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday as "productive" and expressed gratitude for the chance to discuss opportunities to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership.

"Productive meeting today with S Jaishankar. Grateful for the opportunity to discuss opportunities to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership and expand our cooperation with other regional partners to uphold peace & prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and Western Indian Ocean," Defence Secretary Austin tweeted.

EAM on Saturday met US Defence Secretary Austin and had a wide-ranging conversation on the global strategic situation. Jaishankar said in a tweet that he looked forward to working with Austin to enhance the strategic partnership.

"Welcomed US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at MEA. A wide-ranging conversation on the global strategic situation. Look forward to working with him on enhancing our strategic partnership," EAM Jaishankar said.

Austin, who is on a three-day official visit to India, met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday and had delegation-level talks at Vigyan Bhawan.

The discussions focused on wide-ranging defence cooperation and expanding military-to-military engagement across services, information sharing, cooperation in emerging sectors of defence, and mutual logistics support.

Defence Minister Singh said that Austin's three-day visit to India during the coronavirus pandemic "shows the abiding commitment" of the US to the bilateral ties.

Austin arrived here on Friday and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

( With inputs from ANI )