US Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll is visiting India to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation amid ongoing tariff tensions
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Amid tariff tensions, a US delegation led by Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll is visiting India from Wednesday to meet External Affairs Minister P. Jaishankar and other government officials for a bilateral defence engagement.
This would be Daniel P. Driscoll’s maiden visit to India since his appointment as Secretary of the Army last February. He visited Japan in October on his last Asian official tour.
US delegation arrival
The 13-member US delegation will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday . They will fly out to a central Asian country before returning on January 23 to hold discussions with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar the following day to expand military cooperation between the countries.
Gaza Peace invite
The visiting delegation, during official interactions, is not ruling out discussing US President Donald Trump’s invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the “Board of Peace” to bring lasting peace to Gaza.
Defence talks focus
It is learnt that he is also seeking a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure that the military dialogue is not made hostage to the trade tariff war, after Washington slapped a 50 per cent tariff on New Delhi as punishment for purchasing oil from Russia.
Arms deals approval
On India’s request to buy up to 216 Excalibur artillery munitions and 100 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, the US State Department gave a go-ahead in November 2025. Together, the deals would cost $93 million. The Indian Army wants to refill its inventory with M982 Excalibur precision-guided artillery shells, which they had fired from M777 howitzers during Operation Sindoor.
Indigenous options
Among the land systems, the US is also pushing the Stryker armoured vehicle, but the Indian Army is also considering indigenous options. During the recently held annual press conference, Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had clarified: “It’s one of the options, but we will prefer an indigenous platform if available. The Indian industry had earlier expressed its reservations over the Styker deal on the grounds that, given the opportunity, indigenous military mobility firms are capable of producing a similar 8×8 armoured vehicle.
Co-production talks
Besides that, the talks on co-production of GE F414 engines between HAL and GE have entered a crucial phase of negotiations, and a deal is expected either this financial year or later in 2026, said top sources privy to the talks.
Parachute Brigade visit
Driscoll is also set to visit the Indian Army’s 50th Parachute Brigade, known as the Shatrujeet Brigade, a special operations group based in Agra, on January 25 and attend the Republic Day parade before the delegation returns to the US.
Published on January 20, 2026
