US Defense Secretary Lauds Indian Navy’s Role Fighting Piracy

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean region.

He appreciated the Navy while having a discussion with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh over the phone on March 18. Both ministers briefly discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defense cooperation issues.

According to the Ministry of Defense they reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X Summit held in New Delhi in February 2024, and the bilateral Tri-Service exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ which has also commenced in India on March 18, 2024.

The two Ministers discussed ways and means to implement the India-US Defense Cooperation Roadmap which was concluded last year. Other defense industrial cooperation issues such as repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards were also briefly discussed.

Both had last met in New Delhi in November 2023 during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.