INDIA, US VOW TO BOOST DEFENCE TIES

New Delhi: India and the United States have in agreement to take care of the pace and momentum of their partnership, particularly in the defence ties, after United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis spoke over phone with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, American and Indian officers aforesaid on Thursday.
Spokesman Captain Jeff Davis aforesaid it was the “first conversation” between Mattis and Parrikar.
“Secretary Mattis committed to build upon the tremendous progress in bilateral defence cooperation made in recent years, underscoring the strategic importance of the US-India relationship and India’s role in advancing global peace and security,” Davis said once the 2 leaders spoke .
Mattis and Parrikar, Davis said, also “affirmed their commitment to sustain the momentum on key bilateral defence efforts to embody the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative”.
The Defence Ministry in a statement in Delhi aforesaid the 2 leaders “expressed satisfaction at the progress in defence cooperation between India and also the US, especially in recent years and noted its significance in the regional and world context”.
It said Mattis and Parrikar “emphasised the special significance and high priority placed by each countries to the relationship, and resolved to work together to additional consolidate and expand this partnership within the future”.