• Deal to enhance coordination, information sharing: Hegseth.
• Hegseth, Singh meet for first time since US imposed 50% tariffs.
• Singh says new chapter to begin with the signing of US-India deal.

The United States has signed a 10-year defence framework agreement with India, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday.

The framework is considered a cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence, enhancing coordination, information sharing and technological cooperation between the two nations, Hegseth posted on X after a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh.

Hegseth and Singh were meeting for the first time since the United States imposed tariffs of 50% on Indian goods in August as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.

The tariffs prompted India to pause purchases of US defence equipment, with the two sides expected to discuss on Friday a review of India’s plans to buy the military hardware.

“We have held telephonic conversations thrice. I am delighted to be meeting you in person on the sidelines of ADMM (ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting – Plus: ADMM-Plus). On this occasion, I feel a new chapter will begin today with the signing of the Defence Framework…I am confident that under your leadership, India-US relations will further strengthen,” the ANI quoted Indian defence minister as saying.

As Washington looks to tackle China’s growing assertiveness in the region, Hegseth is expected to meet the defence ministers of Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, among others, said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Delegations from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Russia are attending the meeting of defence ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

• Trump tells Pentagon to start testing nuclear weapons.
• Experts say explosion tests would be disruptive.
• Breaking moratorium on nuke tests to benefit US adversaries.

If US Navy Vice Admiral Richard Correll thought he was going to have an easy confirmation hearing on Thursday to become the commander of America’s nuclear forces, those hopes surely vanished at 9:04pm the night before he was to testify.

That was when President Donald Trump shocked the world by announcing on social media that he had asked the US military to “start testing our Nuclear Weapons”, saying the United States could not fall behind Russia and China.

“Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years,” Trump said.

During a roughly 90-minute hearing on Thursday morning at the Senate Armed Services Committee, Correll faced repeated questions about Trump’s comments from puzzled US lawmakers, embodying the confusion that the Republican president unleashed in Washington and beyond.

The top Democrat on the committee, Senator Jack Reed, asked Correll whether a resumption of US nuclear explosive testing would be destabilising, triggering a global nuclear arms race.

“If confirmed as the commander of STRATCOM, my role would be to provide military advice on any discussions on the way ahead with respect to testing,” Correll said.

The vice admiral, who Trump nominated in early September to lead the US military’s Strategic Command, or STRATCOM, which focuses on nuclear deterrence and strike capabilities, kept answering questions carefully throughout the hearing.

At one point, Senator Angus King, an independent, asked whether Trump’s post could be about testing delivery systems such as missiles rather than explosive testing of nuclear devices.

“I don’t have insight into the President’s intent. I agree that could be an interpretation,” Correll said.

US Moratorium

US officials on Thursday did not clarify whether Trump was calling for testing of nuclear weapon delivery systems or ending a 33-year moratorium on explosion tests, which experts said would be disruptive and carry the risk of provoking escalation from rivals, evoking anxious memories of the Cold War.

Vice President JD Vance said testing was part of ensuring the US nuclear arsenal functions properly.

The US and other nuclear powers have long stopped detonating actual nuclear warheads and instead use advanced computer simulations to maintain the readiness of their arsenals.

“There is no good reason for the United States to resume explosive nuclear testing — it would actually make everyone in the US less safe,” said Tara Drozdenko, director of the global security program at Union of Concerned Scientists.

“The US has so much to lose and so little to gain from resuming testing,” she said.

Sending a message to Moscow and Beijing

Many analysts said that Trump, who often tries to project strength as a negotiation tactic, likely was seeking to send a message to Moscow and Beijing.

In his social media post issued ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the president said he had instructed the Pentagon to start testing “on an equal basis” and added, “That process will start immediately.”

Only North Korea has conducted a nuclear test explosion in this century, the last in 2017.

Russia, which has tested two new nuclear-powered weapons in recent days, has been accused by Washington of conducting so-called low-yield tests and of lacking transparency in its nuclear program, but has not conducted a full-scale nuclear explosion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had cautioned that if any country tested a nuclear weapon, then Moscow would too, a Kremlin spokesperson said on Thursday.

China has repeatedly rebuffed efforts across US administrations to hold talks on nuclear arms. While Beijing is undertaking efforts to dramatically increase its nuclear weapons stockpiles it has expressed little interest in negotiating with Russia and the US, arguing those countries’ nuclear forces are currently considerably larger.

“If the goal is to generate leverage to force China to negotiate, I think that’s unlikely to work,” said James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

China hopes the US will abide by its commitment to a moratorium on nuclear testing and obligations under a test ban treaty, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Benefiting US adversaries

Breaking the moratorium on US nuclear tests could benefit Washington’s nuclear rivals by allowing them to conduct more tests, said Ploughshares, a foundation focused on reducing nuclear threats.

The United States has conducted the majority of all nuclear test explosions and retains data gathered from its 1,030 tests since 1945.

STRATCOM, where Correll is the current No 2, had just certified the US military’s nuclear arsenal in January.

“A return to testing will benefit US adversaries by allowing them to catch up in nuclear research and weapons development,” Ploughshares said in a statement.

A source at the Department of Energy, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said any test would take place deep underground at a Nevada site, which is mandated to be ready to conduct tests within 36 months.

At the hearing, Senator Jacky Rosen said her home state of Nevada had suffered from being the site of US nuclear explosive tests from 1951 to 1992, and vowed to prevent Trump from resuming them: “I’m going to be crystal clear: I will not let this happen. Not on my watch.”

• India says exemption will boost regional trade connectivity.
• Indian refiners are now cutting Russian oil imports.
• Jaiswal says India continuing talks with Trump admin on trade deal.
  

The US has granted India a six-month sanctions waiver to operatethe Iranian port of Chabahar, India said on Thursday, boosting New Delhi’s effort to enhance trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries bypassing its rival Pakistan.

India signed a 10-year contract with Iran last year to develop and operate the port and this month stepped up its ties with Taliban-run Afghanistan by reopening its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Islamist group seized power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.

The port on Iran’s southeastern Gulf of Oman coast was initially planned with a rail link to Afghanistan for building the landlocked country’s economy through trade and reducing Kabul’s dependence on the Pakistani port of Karachi.

The waiver move followed word by US President Donald Trump this week that he wanted to reach a trade deal with India – signalling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after he doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50% as punishment for Indian purchases of Russian oil.

Indian refiners are now cutting Russian oil imports following Washington’s imposition last week of sanctions on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.

“I can confirm that we have been granted an exemption for a six-month period,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly news briefing, referring to the port.

He also said India was continuing talks with the Trump administration on a bilateral trade deal.

Washington had last month revoked the sanctions waiver for Chabahar, initially granted in 2018, as part of its effort to put “maximum pressure” on Iran to counter what it called the Islamic Republic’s destabilising activities in support of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

An Indian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US sanctions waiver had taken effect on Wednesday. The US embassy in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.