Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met US War Secretary Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of the 13th ADMM-Plus in Cebu, with both sides discussing ways to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.
The meeting marked the first anniversary of the US-India Major Defence Partnership framework, which sets out a shared vision for expanding defence ties over the following decade.
Singh is scheduled to address regional and international security challenges at the meeting and hold bilateral discussions with defence counterparts from several Indo-Pacific countries.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met US War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Cebu, the Philippines, as the two countries marked the first anniversary of their framework for a major defence partnership. The leaders discussed ways to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, Hegseth said.
In a post on X, Hegseth wrote, “Great meeting with Indian Minister of Defence Singh. We celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Framework for our Major Defense Partnership and explored ways to strengthen cooperation.”
The meeting comes a year after Singh and Hegseth signed the Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership, which outlined a shared vision and policy direction for expanding defence cooperation over the following decade.
US, India Mark First Anniversary Of Defence Framework
According to India’s Ministry of Defence, the framework was designed to provide a unified vision and policy direction to deepen defence cooperation between the two countries over the next 10 years.
The meeting took place as defence ministers from across the Indo-Pacific gathered for the ADMM-Plus, a forum for dialogue and cooperation on regional security issues.
Hegseth also held meetings with defence leaders from South Korea, Australia and Japan. Following his meeting with South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back, he said the US-South Korea alliance was built around “peace through strength”, ready forces and combined capabilities to deter aggression.
After meeting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, Hegseth said the two countries were working to strengthen their alliance and improve deterrence.
In a separate meeting with Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Hegseth said the countries shared a vision of “peace through strength”. He highlighted increased defence investment, greater access, more realistic training and expanded ammunition production as priorities for strengthening their defence cooperation.
Rajnath Singh To Address Regional Security Challenges
Singh arrived in Cebu on Tuesday night to attend the defence ministers’ meeting. He received a ceremonial welcome at the airport from M Gen Fabian M Pedregosa, a retired Philippine Air Force officer and undersecretary at the Philippine Department of National Defense. Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Harsh Kumar Jain and Defence Attaché Captain ChandraKant Kothari were also present.
The Defence Minister later interacted with members of the Indian community and Filipino nationals at his hotel.
Singh is scheduled to represent India at the ADMM-Plus meeting on Thursday, where he will address shared regional and international security challenges. Before departing for Cebu, he reiterated India’s commitment to closer engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
“India is firmly committed to ASEAN centrality and the peace, stability, and collective growth of the Indo-Pacific region under our Act East Policy,” Singh wrote on X.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Singh is also scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with defence counterparts from the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and South Korea.
