Newly-appointed United States defense secretary Mark T. Esper on Tuesday told Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh that Kashmir was entirely an internal matter of India and that all India-Pakistan issues should be settled bilaterally.
This was communicated to Rajnath Singh during a telephone conversation when the Indian minister called Esper to congratulate him on his appointment.
The defence minister also raised the issue of cross-border terrorism and appreciated US support in maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Amongst other issues discussed were bilateral defence cooperation, a commitment to strengthen and deepen mutual relations, military-to-military cooperation, defence policy, research and development cooperation, defence trade, technology and industrial cooperation.
Singh also invited US companies to invest in the Indian defence manufacturing sector under the Make in India programme.
India and the US are scheduled to hold the first tri-service joint exercise later this year and are also scheduled to hold the 2+2 dialogue, of Defence and Foreign Ministers, later this year in the US.
