On Thursday, February 13, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC to discuss strengthening the bilateral partnership between India and the United States across multiple sectors.

Defence Cooperation Framework

The U.S. will increase military sales to India, potentially including F-35 fighter jets. A defence cooperation framework for the next decade will be prepared, focusing on defence interoperability, logistics, repair, and maintenance. They also launched the "U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military)" initiative.

The new defence cooperation framework between the United States and India is designed to enhance collaboration over the next decade. This framework includes guiding principles for defence engagement, military exchanges and exercises, a promising outlook on defence trade, and closer consultations on regional and maritime security issues.

Key components of the defence cooperation framework:

The framework will focus on defence interoperability, logistics, repair, and maintenance. The U.S. is set to increase military sales to India, potentially including F-35 fighter jets.

Encourages joint development, joint production, and technology transfer. The "Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance" will also be launched. The framework seeks to deepen defence cooperation through elevated dialogue on cooperative research & development and defence trade. It also focuses on technology cooperation and the integration of defence industrial supply chains.

U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military) This initiative was launched to further defence cooperation.

The U.S. and India have been expanding their defence relationship, with the U.S. considering India as a major defence partner. The new framework builds upon this foundation, promoting a long-term strategic partnership.

Other Bilateral Agreements

Both countries have set a goal to double their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

India will import more U.S. oil and gas to reduce the trade deficit. Both countries reached an agreement on energy, potentially making the U.S. India's leading supplier of oil and gas. Discussions also included increasing cooperation on small modular reactors and welcoming US nuclear technology into the Indian market. New procurements will help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with India. India is also planning to buy more Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and military hardware, including combat vehicles, from the US.

India and the U.S. will collaborate on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum biotechnology, and other technologies. They also agreed on TRUST, which stands for ‘transforming relationships utilizing strategic technology’. Focus will be on establishing strong supply chains for critical minerals, advanced materials, and pharmaceuticals, including a recovery and processing initiative for strategic minerals like lithium and rare earths.

ISRO and NASA will cooperate to launch the Nisar satellite into space on an Indian launch vehicle.

PM Modi and President Trump discussed several specific trade agreements and areas of cooperation:

Discussions included India reducing tariffs on more than 30 items and increasing purchases of U.S. defence and energy products to prevent higher reciprocal tariffs from the U.S.

Initiative: An agreement to collaborate on building a trade route from India to Israel to Italy and eventually to the United States, linking partners through ports, railways, and undersea cables.

Both leaders acknowledged their long-standing friendship and committed to strengthening ties.

Agencies