The United States Defense Secretary James N. Mattis met with British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson at the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) reported.

In a statement, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana W. White said Mattis and Williamson met to reaffirm the long-standing and special defense relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

The leaders discussed a broad range of defense issues, White said, including strengthening the defense trade relationship and coordinating deployments in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The secretary also thanked Secretary Williamson for nearly doubling U.K. contributions toward the NATO mission in Afghanistan and reaffirmed U.S. support for U.K. defense modernization efforts,” White said.