US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have agreed to step up cooperation between the two countries.

Austin met with Singh in New Delhi on Monday as part of his two-day trip to the country.

India's defense ministry announced that the defense chiefs "concluded a roadmap for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation which shall guide the policy direction for the next few years."

It said both sides will identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing and new systems.

Singh tweeted that their talks touched on increasing cooperation in several areas "including convergence of strategic interests and enhanced security cooperation."

The move was in line with India's apparent push to source weapons from countries other than Russia, whose weaponry has become increasingly difficult to come by since it started its invasion of Ukraine. Building better ties with the US is also helpful for India at a time when its relations with China remain strained over border issues.

Washington, meanwhile, views India -- one of the major "Global South" emerging and developing nations -- as a key counterweight to a bellicose Russia and an increasingly hegemonic China.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Washington later this month for an official state visit and hold talks with US President Joe Biden.