US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to travel to India ahead of PM Modi's White House visit

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to New Delhi next week to meet his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh, the Pentagon has announced. The visit precedes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official state visit to White House next month.

Austin will visit New Delhi to meet with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders as the United States and India continue to modernise the US-India Major Defense Partnership, the Pentagon said on Thursday, announcing the defense secretary's trip to Japan, Singapore, India and France next week.

"This visit provides an opportunity to accelerate new defense innovation and industrial cooperation initiatives and drive ongoing efforts to expand operational cooperation between the US and Indian militaries," the Pentagon said.