US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin will reach India today for a two-day visit. This is Austin's second visit to India. During this, he will hold bilateral talks with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Both the leaders will discuss defense related issues in the changing world scenario. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is also going to hold bilateral talks with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on June 6.

Austin had recently announced visits to Japan, Singapore, France and India, saying he would visit India to meet Rajnath Singh and other leaders. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, issues promoting industrial partnership with both the countries will be discussed.

Germany's Federal Defense Minister Pistorius will reach India from Indonesia on Monday. Lava Pistorius of the bilateral talks will participate in an event organized by the Innovation for Defense Excellence (IDEX) in Delhi. He will also meet officials of some companies associated with defense start-ups. After that Pistorius will also visit the Western Naval Command Headquarters and Mazagon Dock Shipyard in Mumbai.

Several new defense cooperation projects will be discussed by Rajnath Singh with US Defense Minister Austin. These will be discussed in detail in Modi-Biden after two weeks. In the talks to be held in Singh-Rajnath, apart from the Indo-Pacific region, aggressive Chinese behavior on LAC and ways to deal with the threat of terrorism can be discussed.

This will be Austin's second visit to India after assuming office in January 2021. With this, Austin will be the fourth US cabinet-level secretary to visit India this year. Earlier, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Minister Gina Raimondo had visited India in February and March.