US, India hold talks for closer defence cooperation

Minister S. Jaishankar met with US Secretary of Air Force Frank Kendall and discussed the global strategic scenario and new opportunities for India-US defence cooperation.

Notably, the meeting between the Indian Minister and the US Secretary of Air Force is crucial, as recently, an Indian-American man was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for the first time.

The United States Senate on March 22 confirmed Indian origin Ravi Chaudhary as the Assistant Secretary of Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment.

Chaudhary won the mandate by a vote of 65-29 as he became a part of one of the top civilian leadership positions in the Pentagon.

According to the statement, Chaudhary served as an active duty Air Force pilot between 1993 and 2015, conducting numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Following his retirement from military service, Chaudhary served for five years as a senior official within the Regions and Centre Operations and Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration.

He was also appointed by President Obama to serve on the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the statement added.

(ANI)