Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin in Siem Reap, Cambodia today. Shri Rajnath Singh and Mr Lloyd Austin are in Cambodia to attend the 9th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus meeting. Both leaders met each other with great warmth and expressed satisfaction at the growing bilateral defence engagements. The Raksha Mantri was accompanied by Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and other senior officials of Ministry of Defence.
The two Defence Ministers discussed wide range of issues of mutual interest while expressing their commitment to a strong India-US defence cooperation. Shri Rajnath Singh emphasised the need for both countries to work together for capability building in critical domains such as military aviation, artificial intelligence and cyber technology.
The Raksha Mantri looked forward to building a roadmap towards greater defence industrial collaboration between India and US. He highlighted India’s growing expertise in aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and ship-building, repairs and refits and suggested specific areas where US defence companies can look for technology cooperation and manufacturing opportunities with Indian partners in India. Secretary Austin welcomed the suggestions and assured Raksha Mantri of cooperation in this regard.
The two leaders expressed their commitment towards an inclusive and rules-based Indo Pacific with freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded trade. They further discussed initiatives that can be taken to strengthen maritime cooperation between the two countries including in maritime domain awareness. Both leaders also shared their perspectives on the regional security situation.