Cebu

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met his US counterpart Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Cebu, Philippines on the side-lines of the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) - Plus.

In his post on X, the Defence Minister said, "Had an excellent meeting with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on the side-lines of the 13th ADMM-Plus. We reviewed the progress of our 10-year India-US Defence Framework, driving strategic convergence across military technology, information sharing, and co-production. Our robust partnership continues to be a cornerstone for a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. "

Has an excellent meeting with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of the 13th ADMM-Plus. We reviewed the progress of our 10-year India-US Defence Framework, driving strategic convergence across military technology, information sharing, and co-production. Our robust partnership continues to be a cornerstone for a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. @SecWar

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) October 28, 2026

Earlier posting about the same meeting Hegseth said, "Great meeting with Indian Minister of Defence Singh. We celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Framework for our Major Defence Partnership and explored ways to strengthen cooperation."

Rajnath Singh is leading the Indian delegation at the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) - Plus at Cebu, Philippines from October 28 to 29. He will address the forum on ‘Exchange of Views on Regional and International Security Issues’.

On the side-lines of ADMM-Plus, Raksha Mantri is also holding bilateral meetings with his counterparts of participating countries. He will review the ongoing defence ties with the nations, and explore ways to further strengthen strategic partnerships.

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.  

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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. India’s 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.