Article Posted on : - Oct 29, 2014

A file photo.

WASHINGTON (PTI): The US and India will continue to work together to further strengthen their military-to-military relations as the top defence officials of the two countries have discussed a range of bilateral security issues.

Top defence officials from India and the US yesterday discussed bilateral military-to-military relationship, strategic ties and global security issues, the Pentagon said.

"During the dialogue, they discussed US-India common security interests, continuing to further strengthen the military-to-military relations, their commitment to the strategic partnership and future areas of security cooperation," a defence department official told PTI.

The 13th annual Defence Policy Group (DPG) meeting held at the Pentagon was the first high level meeting between the two countries after the September visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US.

The Indian delegation was led by the Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur and the US side was led by its Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Christine Wormuth.

The two leaders also discussed both countries' efforts in combating global threats, such as terrorism and the Ebola epidemic and the need to continue to cooperate on security and development in the Indo-Pacific region, the official said.

"Both Wormuth and Mathur stated their commitment to continuing progress on defence cooperation and build on the positive momentum brought about by recent senior-level engagements," the official said.

The last defence policy group meeting was held in New Delhi.

The meeting is the annual senior-level US-India bilateral defence engagement and primary mechanism for guiding the two countries strategic defence relationship.