Cebu: 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 (ADMM-Plus) in Cebu, Philippines. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, focusing on defence cooperation and regional security.
Rajnath Singh welcomed Koizumi and greeted him in Japanese. Recalling their previous meeting, Singh expressed pleasure at the progress in bilateral relations and reaffirmed India’s commitment to deepening cooperation between the defence forces of both countries.
“As two leading democracies in Asia, India and Japan share a profound responsibility to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” Singh stated.
Japan’s Defence Minister thanked Singh for the warm welcome and the meeting, assuring Japan’s commitment to strengthening cooperation between the two countries across various areas, including defence.
Before meeting Koizumi, 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 meet 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.
Singh is in Cebu 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 counterparts from participating countries.
The ADMM is ASEAN’s highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism. ADMM-Plus brings together ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam — and eight Dialogue Partners: India, the US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
India became ASEAN’s dialogue partner in 1992. The inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, ministers have met annually to strengthen defence cooperation.
The Philippines chairs ADMM-Plus for 2026. India is co-chairing the Experts Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with Malaysia for the 2024–2027 cycle. India’s participation underscores deepening defence diplomacy in Southeast Asia under the Act East policy, aimed at promoting peace, stability and collective growth.
