The visit holds particular significance considering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming state visit to the White House in June

New Delhi: US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India on an official visit, on Sunday, starting the third leg of this four-nation tour. Austin is set to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with an aim to expand defence-industrial partnership. The visit holds particular significance considering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming state visit to the White House in June.

"I’m returning to India to meet with key leaders for discussions about strengthening our Major Defence Partnership. Together, we’re advancing a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific," US Defence Secretary wrote on Twitter as he landed in India.

Austin attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and his first stop was in Tokyo where he met with Japanese Defence Minister Yasukasu Hamada and other senior leaders and visit US troops stationed in Japan. Later, from Japan, he flew to Singapore, where he addressed plenary remarks at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) 20th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. During his stay in Singapore, he also held key bilateral meetings to advance US partnerships across the region.

Austin’s New Delhi visit prominently focuses on advancing India-US new defence innovation and industrial cooperation initiatives and continuing with the efforts to expand operational cooperation between the US and Indian militaries.

The Pentagon, while elaborating on the details of the Defence Secretary’s visit, said, “After Singapore, Secretary Austin will visit New Delhi to meet with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders as the United States and India continue to modernize the US-India Major Defence Partnership.”

“This visit provides an opportunity to accelerate new defence innovation and industrial cooperation initiatives and drive ongoing efforts to expand operational cooperation between the U.S. and Indian militaries,” the statement added.

Speaking ahead of his four-nation tour, the US Defence Secretary said: “I look forward to travelling to Japan, Singapore, India and France next week. We’ve made ground-breaking progress over the past year alongside our allies and partners towards advancing our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Also just before PM Modi’s visit to the US, a powerful Congressional Committee has recommended strengthening NATO Plus by including India. This step is a move to deter China. The suggestion of including India in the five-member grouping has been made by the committee to win the “strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party”.

Presently, NATO Plus 5 is a security arrangement that works towards boosting global defence cooperation and comprises NATO and five aligned countries, Australia, Japan, Israel, New Zealand and South Korea. India getting included in NATO Plus would mean the facilitation of seamless intelligence sharing between these nations and India and access to the latest military technology with a minimal time lag, reported NewsonAir.

The US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made the resounding decision after a meeting on May 24. The committee rolled out a policy proposal that aims to bolster Taiwan’s deterrence capabilities, primarily by reinforcing NATO Plus with the inclusion of India.

Secretary Austin will conclude his four-nation trip in France and will take part in events commemorating the 79th anniversary of D-Day and meet with French and United Kingdom defence leaders.