US Defence Sec arrives in India on two-day visit

New Delhi, Feb 26: US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates arrived in New Delhi this afternoon on a two-day visit. Gates is making his first visit to India since assuming office on December 18, 2006. India and the US have a strong framework of defence cooperation established by the 2005 Defence Framework Agreement and a comprehensive institutional framework of exchanges.

It is expected that Secretary Gates' visit will give a further impetus to the ongoing defence cooperation between two countries. During his stay, Secretary Gates will be meeting the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Defence Minister A K Antony, the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the leader of the Opposition L K Advani.

His visit to India reaffirms the importance of the Indo-US relations and the strong political support in the US for our strategic partnership. India also reiterates its interest in looking forward to broad-based defence ties with the USA.

ANI