India and US discussed the entire range of bilateral defence ties during talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Mark T Esper in Bangkok on Sunday.  The parleys were held on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) there.

Expressing happiness on the growing relationship between India and US, Singh 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, according to defence ministry officials here.

 Singh added that there is growing convergence between India and US in the Indo-Pacific region and India’s vision for Indo-Pacific is for a free & open, peaceful, prosperous and inclusive region supported by a rules-based order and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.  His observation comes in the backdrop of China fast expanding military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, triggering concern in various countries of the region and beyond.

ASEAN is central to India’s vision of Indo-Pacific. Both countries are 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.

 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 the Indian Defence Minister looked forward to have substantial discussions during the forthcoming 2+2 dialogue in Washington later next month.  The inaugural Indo-US ‘two-plus-two’ talks took place here in September last year.

 Later, in a tweet, 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 said.  The Defence Minister also held a separate meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono with a focus on adding further momentum to bilateral defence cooperation.

The ADMM-Plus is also likely to review the evolving security scenario in the region, particularly in the maritime domain.  The inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi in 2010. The Defence Ministers then had agreed on five areas of practical cooperation to pursue under the new mechanism, including maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping operations.