Both sides discussed military deals: Pentagon
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his American counterpart Pete Hegseth have agreed to firm up a 10-year framework to further expand defence and strategic ties between India and the US.
The decision on the defence framework was mentioned in a Pentagon statement that was released on Wednesday, a day after Singh and US defence secretary Hegseth held a phone conversation.
“Secretary Hegseth and minister Singh agreed to sign the next 10-year US-India defence framework when they next meet this year,” it said.
It said the two sides discussed pending major US defence sales to India and the imperative of close defence industrial cooperation between the two countries.
“Secretary Hegseth emphasised the priority the United States places on India as its key defence partner in South Asia,” the Pentagon said.
It said the two leaders reviewed the “considerable progress” both countries have made toward achieving the defence goals set out in the February 2025 joint statement by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The two discussed pending major US defence sales to India and the imperative of close defence industrial cooperation between the two countries,” the Pentagon readout said without providing further details.
In the phone conversation on Tuesday, Singh urged Hegseth to expedite the delivery of GE F404 engines to power the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, people familiar with the matter said.
Singh also pitched for the early finalisation of a proposed deal between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and US defence major GE Aerospace for the joint production of F414 jet engines in India, they said.
The delay in the supply of F404 engines by GE Aerospace has resulted in HAL missing the deadline to supply Tejas Mark 1A aircraft to the Indian Air Force.
An Indian readout on Tuesday said Singh and Hegseth discussed a wide canvas of issues ranging from long-term cooperation in the defence sector, including training and military exchanges, to expanding industry collaborations.
“They agreed to further build upon the momentum of this critical and mutually beneficial partnership across all its pillars such as interoperability, integration of defence industrial supply chains, logistics sharing, increased joint military exercises and cooperation with other like-minded partners,” it said.
India, Ghana elevate ties to comprehensive partnership
Accra: India and Ghana have elevated their ties to the level of comprehensive partnership, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama resolving to expand the bilateral ties in a range of areas, including defence, food security and pharmaceuticals.
In his media statement shortly after the talks with Mahama on Wednesday, Modi said both sides have set a target of doubling the two-way trade in the next five years and that India is not just a partner but a co-traveller in Ghana’s development journey.
The delegation-level meeting between the two leaders took place hours after Modi arrived in this capital city of the West African country on the first leg of his five-nation tour.
In a special gesture, the Prime Minister was received at the airport by President Mahama and was accorded a ceremonial welcome. It is the first prime ministerial visit from India to Ghana in three decades.
In their talks, the two leaders resolved to accelerate cooperation in key areas such as defence cooperation, food security and pharmaceuticals, especially vaccines.
Following the Modi-Mahama talks, the two sides inked four pacts that will provide for cooperation in several areas, including culture and traditional medicine.
“Today, the President and I have decided to elevate our bilateral partnership to a comprehensive partnership,” Modi said, adding, “India is not just a partner but a co-traveller in Ghana’s journey of nation-building.”
“In agriculture, it will be our pleasure to lend support towards President Mahama’s ‘Feed Ghana’ programme,” Modi said.
“We’ve discussed cooperation in vaccine production,” he noted.
Mahama said Ghana is keen to sign formal agreements with India on defence cooperation, vaccine production and supply of agricultural machinery.
“Both countries will work to deepen economic and investment relations at a time that Ghana is undergoing economic restructuring due to the debt treatments we are undergoing in the IMF programme,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi said both sides were unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity and that it was decided to further strengthen mutual cooperation in countering the menace.
“We are unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity. We thank Ghana for its cooperation in our fight against terrorism,” he said.
“In this context, we have decided to further strengthen mutual cooperation in counter-terrorism,” he said.
In the field of defence and security, we will move forward with the mantra of “security through solidarity”, he added.
India-Ghana cooperation will be enhanced in areas such as training of armed forces, maritime security, defence supply and cyber security, he added.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the upswing in trade relations between the two countries.
