Kuala Lumpur: India and the US have signed a framework agreement to expand defence cooperation over the next 10 years. The pact was announced after a meeting between US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in Kuala Lumpur. The agreement will enhance "coordination, information sharing and tech cooperation" and advance "regional stability and deterrence", Hegseth said on X. It comes as the two countries are trying to close a trade deal and tide over tense ties after US President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariffs on India, including a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil and arms.

The agreement is expected to provide policy direction to the entire spectrum of the India-US defence relationship.

"It is a signal of our growing strategic convergence and will herald a new decade of partnership. Defence will remain as a major pillar of our bilateral relations. Our partnership is critical for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region," Singh said, in a post on X.

According to Pramit Pal Chaudhuri of the Eurasia Group think tank, the agreement was supposed to have been concluded in July-August this year, but India's irritation at Trump's statements about his role in ending the conflict with Pakistan led to it getting delayed.

The pact is the latest in a series of agreements between the two countries that have made it "easier for the two militaries to achieve interoperability, India to access technology and the two defence sectors to work together", Chaudhuri said. "This provides for further potential in all three areas," he added.