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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus in Cebu. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, with a focus on defence cooperation and regional security.
Rajnath Singh welcomed Shinjiro Koizumi and greeted him in Japanese. Recalling their previous meeting, Rajnath Singh expressed his pleasure at the progress in bilateral relations and reaffirmed Indias commitment to deepening cooperation between the defence forces of the two countries. In his remarks, Rajnath Singh stated, As two leading democracies in Asia, India and Japan share a profound responsibility to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Japans Defence Minister also thanked Rajnath Singh for the warm welcome and the meeting. He assured of Japans commitment to strengthening cooperation between the two countries across various areas, including defence. Before this meeting, Rajnath Singh held bilateral talks with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, followed by a meeting with his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles. He is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the host country, the Philippines, as well as Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea, to discuss defence cooperation and key regional and international security issues. Rajnath Singh is in Cebu, the Philippines, to attend the ADMM-Plus. On Thursday, he will represent India at the meeting and address the forum on shared regional and international security issues. Ahead of the meeting, he is holding bilateral discussions with his counterparts from participating countries. The ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam) and its eight Dialogue Partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) to strengthen security and defence cooperation. India became the dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting annually to bolster defence cooperation amongst ASEAN and the Plus countries. The Philippines is the chair of ADMM-Plus for 2026. Under the construct of ADMM-Plus, India is co-chairing the Experts Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with Malaysia for the cycle 2024-2027. Indias active participation in the ADMM-Plus mechanisms underscores the deepening defence diplomacy in Southeast Asia under the Act East policy, aimed at ensuring peace, stability and collective growth in the region. (ANI)
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