US Under Secretary Hooker Meets India’s Misri to Boost Strategic Defence and Trade
Strategic powerhouse duo fast-tracks defence, tech, and commerce mega-deal.
United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker commenced an intensive five-day official visit to New Delhi on Tuesday, holding comprehensive foreign office consultations with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to translate the ambitious Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership framework articulated by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi into concrete, time-bound deliverables spanning defence, trade, and frontier technologies.
The deliberations encompassed a thorough review of bilateral, regional, and global issues, with both nations reaffirming unwavering commitment to a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific while identifying accelerated cooperation in civil nuclear energy, critical and emerging minerals, resilient supply chains, and advanced military platforms as cornerstone priorities for the coming decade.
Defence collaboration dominated the agenda, with immediate emphasis placed on expediting the COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology) initiative, including India’s planned acquisition of F-35 stealth fighter aircraft and co-production of next-generation systems, significantly enhancing interoperability and joint deterrence capabilities across the Indian Ocean Region.
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Trade negotiations advanced decisively toward concluding the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement, with both sides targeting an unprecedented expansion of annual bilateral commerce to $500 billion by 2030 through removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers and deeper integration of services, manufacturing, and digital economies.
The consultations concluded with mutual resolve to intensify collaboration in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, and the Technology and Resilient Supply Chain Trust (TRUST) initiative, establishing secure innovation corridors that position India and the United States as indispensable partners in shaping the technological and geopolitical order of the twenty-first century.
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