Rajnath, new US Defence Secy reiterate co-op

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday spoke to new US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, in the first high-level engagement between the two sides after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the US last week. Singh said the firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation was reiterated during the talks. "Spoke with my US counterpart, Secretary Def Austin and conveyed my warm wishes on his appointment," Singh tweeted. "We reiterated our firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation. We exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest to strengthen our strategic partnership," he said.