Kuala Lumpur | In a major boost to strategic cooperation, India and the United States on Friday signed a landmark 10-year Defence Framework Agreement, marking a significant milestone in their evolving defence and security partnership. The agreement was exchanged between India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The framework provides a long-term policy direction for the US–India Major Defence Partnership, symbolizing the deepening alignment between New Delhi and Washington on regional and global security issues.
Describing the agreement as a “historic milestone,” Hegseth said it would strengthen coordination, information sharing, and technology cooperation between the two countries. “Our defence ties have never been stronger. This framework advances our defence partnership – a cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence,” he said in a post on X.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called his meeting with Hegseth “fruitful” and emphasized that the framework would “usher in a new era” in bilateral defence collaboration. In a social media post, Singh wrote, “We signed the 10-year ‘Framework for the US–India Major Defence Partnership’. This will provide policy direction to the entire spectrum of our defence relationship. It reflects our growing strategic convergence and reaffirms that defence will remain a major pillar of India–US relations.”
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN–India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting, held in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) scheduled for November 1. The upcoming summit will focus on regional security, maritime cooperation, and collective efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ahead of his visit, Singh had reiterated that India’s engagements with ASEAN nations were in line with the government’s ‘Act East Policy’, aimed at enhancing defence and security cooperation with Southeast Asian partners.
The new agreement reinforces the growing synergy between the two democracies, highlighting their shared commitment to a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific, while paving the way for enhanced joint exercises, defence technology sharing, and industrial collaboration over the next decade.
