New Delhi

The US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval soon after his arrival in Delhi.

Austin is on his maiden visit to India where he is expected to hold discussions on deepening strategic ties between the two democracies, affirming India's role as a key partner in President Joe Biden's focus on the Indo-Pacific.

He met Doval in the evening. Austin’s is the first visit to India by a member of the Biden administration.

He is also meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Friday night.

Austin has arrived after his visits to Japan and South Korea – other allies of the USA in the front against Chinese aggressiveness at sea in the region.

Last week Biden held a virtual summit with other leaders of the Quad, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, at which they discussed security issues in the face of Chinese aggressive actions.

It was his first multilateral summit indicating his priority to the region.

Outlining Austin's agenda in India, Acting Assistant Defence Secretary for Indo-Pacific, David F. Helvey, said that he will "discuss operationalising the major defence partnership that we have with India, including through enhanced information sharing, regional security cooperation, defence trade and cooperation in new domains".

In New Delhi, the Ministry of defence said that Singh and Austin "are expected to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and exchange views on regional security challenges and common interests in maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region".

"Discussions regarding defence cooperation would also focus on how both countries could consolidate military-to-military cooperation and defence trade and industry cooperation."