New Delhi, Aug 14: Citing that the India-US defence ties remain an important pillar of the bilateral relationship, India on Thursday said that a US defence policy team will soon be visiting New Delhi as both countries continue to strengthen their comprehensive global strategic partnership.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the defence partnership between both nations has strengthened across all domains and the defence procurement continues as per established procedures.

Addressing a regular media briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also stated that the joint India-US military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' is expected to take place later this month.

"The India-US defence partnership, underpinned by foundational defence agreements, is an important pillar of the bilateral partnership. This robust cooperation has strengthened across all domains. We are expecting a US defence policy team to be in Delhi in mid-August. The 21st edition of the joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas is also expected to take place later this month in Alaska. Both sides remain engaged to convene the 2+2 Intersessional meeting at the working-level towards the end of this month," said Jaiswal.

Reiterating that India-US partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges, the MEA spokesperson stated that the two nations share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties. He expressed hope that the ties between two nations will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests.

"India and the United States share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties. This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges, as we had said earlier. We remain focused on the substantive agenda that the two countries have committed to, and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests," he mentioned.

The statement comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump announcing earlier this month an additional 25 per cent tariff hike, citing India’s continued imports of Russian crude oil as the primary reason. This comes on top of a previous 25 per cent tariff that came into effect on July 20.

Responding sharply to the US move, the MEA had called the decision "unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable", stating that India’s energy needs and strategic autonomy must be respected.

(IANS)

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