Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri concluded a high-level diplomatic visit to Washington DC from May 27 to 29, engaging with senior US officials across key departments to advance the India-U.S. COMPACT framework launched during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. in February.
The COMPACT — Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology — serves as a new strategic roadmap for deepening defence, trade, and technology ties between the two nations.
Key Engagements:
Foreign Secretary Misri, accompanied by Deputy National Security Advisor Pavan Kapoor, held discussions with officials from:
- Department of State
- National Security Council
- Department of Defence
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Commerce
Diplomatic Highlights:
- With Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau:
The leaders reviewed the full bilateral agenda, emphasizing Technology, Trade, and Talent as the defining pillars of the 21st-century India-U.S. partnership. - With Department of Defence Officials Steve Feinberg & Elbridge Colby:
Talks focused on joint military exercises, co-production and co-development, logistics, information-sharing, and interoperability enhancements under the growing defence partnership. - With Treasury Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender:
Misri discussed avenues to deepen financial and economic cooperation, including synergy within international financial institutions and coordination in upcoming FATF processes. - With Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler:
Both sides reviewed the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement, agreed to expedite the Strategic Trade Dialogue, and deliberated on critical and emerging technologies, alongside efforts to streamline ITAR and export control rules.
Strategic & Multilateral Cooperation:
The Indian delegation held inter-agency discussions on:
- Defence and energy security
- The TRUST initiative (Technology, Resilience, and Unified Strategic Trade)
- Counter-terrorism
- The Indian Ocean Strategic Venture
- Collaborative platforms: Quad, I2U2, and IMEEC
Industry & Think Tank Engagement:
- Foreign Secretary Misri and DNSA Kapoor chaired a roundtable with industry leaders to push forward bilateral efforts in critical tech domains.
- They also interacted with leading think tanks, addressing strategic dimensions of the India-U.S. global partnership.
Looking Ahead:
The visit reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to a “robust, forward-looking partnership” grounded in shared democratic values, security cooperation, and economic resilience. The next rounds of the Strategic Trade Dialogue and defence and tech working groups are expected in the coming weeks.
The MEA emphasized that the visit was instrumental in translating the vision of India-U.S. COMPACT into actionable collaboration, reinforcing India’s growing role as a strategic ally in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.