Overview
- The first face-to-face between Rajnath Singh and Pete Hegseth on the ASEAN meeting sidelines will review India's planned purchase of six Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and a refreshed defence cooperation framework.
- Officials say the encounter could open the door to a follow-on visit by either Hegseth to India or Singh to Washington.
- Singh’s August trip to Washington was canceled after President Trump doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50%, a rift that has eased as Indian refiners scaled back Russian oil purchases following new U.S. sanctions.
- In separate talks, the United States and Malaysia signed a defence cooperation memorandum of understanding, renewed their Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, and moved to finalize agreements on communications, information sharing and geospatial matters.
- Malaysia criticized “grey-zone” hydrographic research under foreign coast guard protection as a sovereignty threat, while Hegseth was slated to meet additional counterparts from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.