NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday held back-to-back talks with his Quad counterparts from the US, Japan and Australia on the sidelines of the ADMM-Plus conclave in Cebu (Philippines), even as China sent only its defence attaché in Manila to the meet. Chinese defence minister Dong Jun had attended the last two editions in person.
The meetings come amid India's continuing efforts to strengthen its strategic partnerships in the face of intensifying competition in the Indo-Pacific. The host Philippines, incidentally, is locked in a running maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Singh and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth took stock of the 10-year India-US defence framework, inked at last year's ADMM-Plus in Kuala Lumpur, and agreed to push bilateral ties towards "strategic convergence".
"We reviewed the progress of our 10-year India-US Defence Framework, driving strategic convergence across military technology, information sharing, and co-production," Singh posted on X, calling the partnership "a cornerstone for a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific".
The two also discussed military-to-military exchanges, maritime security and defence supply chains, besides ways to fast-track operational readiness and defence industrial integration, the defence ministry said. Hegseth, on his part, reiterated US support to India in its fight against cross-border terrorism.
With Japan, Singh and Shinjiro Koizumi took stock of progress on joint naval shipbuilding and mine countermeasures, an idea the two first agreed to explore when they met in August. They also agreed to fast-track the upcoming India-Japan 2+2 ministerial dialogue and a defence ministers' meeting in Tokyo later this year.
The two ministers welcomed progress on "concrete maritime security cooperation that serves the strategic and operational needs of both sides", including exploring joint development in naval shipbuilding and design by "leveraging Japan's technological expertise and India's production capabilities", the defence ministry said.
The push comes months after Tokyo overhauled its defence export rules. In April, Japan scrapped the "five categories" restriction, which had limited its arms exports to non-lethal areas such as rescue, transport, surveillance and minesweeping. It can now export lethal equipment, including warships and missiles, to countries with which it has defence equipment and technology transfer agreements. India signed one in 2015.
Singh's talks with Australian deputy PM and defence minister Richard Marles revolved around military interoperability and regional security. "India places great value on its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Australia," he said.
The constant refrain of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" in all the meetings points to shared concerns over China's expanding military and maritime footprint in the region.
India has maintained the Quad is not a military alliance and is not directed against any country. Beijing, however, has repeatedly slammed the four-nation grouping, with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi once dubbing it an "Indo-Pacific NATO".
Singh also held talks with South Korean defence minister Kang Shin-chul on “co-development of military technologies” and with Philippines defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr on maritime security and joint defence production. He is also slated to meet his Vietnamese and Singaporean counterparts before addressing the ADMM-Plus on Thursday.
The ADMM-Plus brings together the 11-member ASEAN bloc and its eight dialogue partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand). It is one of the rare forums where rival powers sit across the same table and a key cog in India's "Act East" policy.
