New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday referred to growing convergence between India and US in the Indo-Pacific region, and stated that India’s vision for Indo-Pacific was for a "free & open, peaceful, prosperous and inclusive region" supported by respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Mr Singh, who held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defence Dr Mark T Esper on the sidelines
of ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Bangkok, expressed happiness on the growing
relationship between India and US.
He said the bilateral cooperation between the two sides "has grown across a wide range of sectors, including
defence and security, economy, energy, counter-terrorism and people-to-people ties."
Asserting that Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was central to India’s vision of Indo-Pacific,
the minister said both countries were working together in the area of maritime security including elements
such as joint exercises, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations and Maritime Domain
Awareness, an official release here said.
The two Ministers also discussed a number of other issues concerning regional security and bilateral defence
cooperation. The meeting ended on a positive note and Mr Singh said he looked forward to have substantial
discussions during the coming 2+2 dialogue in Washington DC later next month.
Later, in a tweet, Mr Singh described his meeting with US Secretary of Defence as excellent. “We talked about
ways to expand defence cooperation between India and the United States,” he tweeted.
UNI SD SB 1534