Rajnath Singh Holds US, Japan Talks at 13th ADMM-Plus

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral meetings with his American and Japanese counterparts on 28 October 2026 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Cebu, the Philippines. It is the 13th edition of the grouping's ministerial meeting. ADMM-Plus brings the ten ASEAN member states together with eight partner countries, India among them, and the bilateral meetings held on its margins are often as consequential as the plenary itself.

The meeting with the United States

With US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the Defence Minister reviewed progress under the India-US Major Defence Partnership and of the 10-year India-US Defence Framework. The two sides looked at the working of their foundational security agreements and sought fresh routes to speed up operational readiness, technology sharing and defence industrial integration. On regional security both stressed a joint resolve against terrorism. Rajnath Singh argued that the world must hold to a zero-tolerance line towards countries that support, train or fund terrorist organisations, and Secretary Hegseth reaffirmed American support to India in its fight against cross-border terrorism. The talks also covered military-to-military exchanges, maritime security and the integration of defence supply chains. In a post afterwards the Defence Minister described the partnership as a cornerstone of a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific.

The meeting with Japan

With Japan's Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, the Defence Minister welcomed the steady progress since their meeting in August. Both ministers noted advances in maritime security work, including stronger mine countermeasure capabilities and the possibility of joint development in naval shipbuilding and design, pairing Japanese technological expertise with Indian production capacity, helped along by the visit of the Indian Navy's Vice Chief of the Naval Staff to Japan.

Air forces and industry

• Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighter aircraft visited India for the first time during the India-Japan air exercise Veer Guardian 26, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Self-Defense Force came with them
• An India-Japan Defence Industry Forum was held at the Embassy of India in Tokyo with about 40 companies from the two countries
• The ministers agreed to speed up preparations for the 4th Japan-India Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting, the 2+2 format, and the Defence Ministers' Meeting in Tokyo later this year

Why it matters

India's defence diplomacy in Southeast Asia runs largely through ADMM-Plus, and both relationships reviewed at Cebu are described in terms of the Indo-Pacific: the American one as a cornerstone of a free, open and secure region, and the Japanese one, a Special Strategic and Global Partnership, as vital to a free, open and peaceful region. For aspirants the usable facts are the edition and venue of the meeting, the names and designations of the two counterparts, the shipbuilding and mine countermeasure strands with Japan, and the dialogue formats that follow.