India and the United States on Friday signed a landmark 10-year Defence Framework Agreement in Kuala Lumpur, strengthening their strategic partnership and reaffirming their commitment to regional security. The agreement was exchanged between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, outlining a long-term roadmap for the US–India Major Defence Partnership.
The new framework marks a major milestone in bilateral relations, providing policy direction across the entire spectrum of defence cooperation, including technology sharing, coordination, and strategic planning.
Calling the pact “historic,” Hegseth said it reflects unprecedented defence collaboration between the two democracies. “This advances our defence partnership — a cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence. We’re enhancing coordination, information sharing, and technology cooperation. Our defence ties have never been stronger,” he wrote on X.
Rajnath Singh echoed this sentiment, describing his meeting with Hegseth as “fruitful” and the agreement as a “new era” in the India–US relationship. “The framework will provide policy direction to the entire spectrum of the India–US defence relationship. It signals our growing strategic convergence and will herald a new decade of partnership,” Singh said in a post on X.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN–India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, ahead of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) scheduled for November 1. The forum will focus on regional cooperation and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ahead of his visit, Singh had said that India’s engagements with ASEAN member states aim to deepen defence and security cooperation under the ‘Act East Policy’.
The agreement cements the momentum in India–US defence relations, highlighting shared goals of maintaining a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
