New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday held meetings with Minister of National Defence of South Korea Kim Yong Hyun, Minister for Defence Industry & Capability Delivery of Australia Pat Conroy and Defence Minister of New Zealand Judith Collins on the sidelines of 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus at Vientiane, Lao PDR.
During his meeting with South Korean Defence Minister, both leaders agreed that bilateral defence cooperation is on a positive trajectory and the similarity of challenges and threats necessitated strong bilateral defence relations.
Both sides also agreed to work together on the ‘Road map for Defence Industry Corporation’ signed in February 2020 through established mechanisms like Defence Policy Dialogue (DPD). The next edition of DPD is scheduled in December 2024.
Rajnath emphasised that defence manufacturing ecosystems of the two nations had a great potential for growth in co-production and co-development. He invited the Korean side to invest in India’s defence corridors which has tremendous opportunities for Korean companies to set up manufacturing facilities in India. India and Korea share a special strategic partnership which has made significant progress in recent years and is bound to move to the next higher level.
He also congratulated Kim Yong Hyun on being appointed as the Defence Minister of Korea.
While meeting the Defence Minister of Australia, Singh recalled that India-Australia partnership is grounded in shared interests, especially stability and security in the Indian Ocean region.
He expressed happiness over the significant milestones achieved in the defence engagements over the last few years. Rajnath pointed out the untapped potential for Indian and defence industries to collaborate and cooperate in niche areas.
Implementing arrangement on Air-to-Air refuelling was exchanged between both the countries. This would strengthen inter-operability between the two Air Forces, a significant step forward in bilateral relationship. Both sides agreed to take defence engagements to the next higher level by cooperating bilaterally as well as in regional context.
During his meeting with Defence Minister of New Zealand, Rajnath stated that the relationship of both the countries was anchored in shared democratic traditions, commonality of institutions of governance, rule of law, English language, love for cricket, mountaineering and hockey and also shared vision of a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
He requested for early finalisation of Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) in order to further strengthen the defence cooperation between two countries, which is growing continuously through regular exchanges of visits of senior defence officials and naval ships.
Singh also highlighted the capabilities of India’s strong shipbuilding Industry and both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in this important area.
UNI
