EAM’s opening remarks during meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (July 01, 2025)

Mr. Secretary,

Once again a very warm, very sincere word of appreciation for the welcome you have given me.

As we were discussing coming up the stairs, I first came to this building more than 40 years ago – seen some big changes in these 40 years, and I think some of those changes were reflected in the conversation you had with Mr. Singh this morning.

Now, I am here for the QUAD meeting – just had a good session with Senator Rubio, and our colleagues from Australia and Japan.

But I am also here with you at the Pentagon, because we believe that our defense partnership is today truly one of the most consequential pillars of the relationship.

It is not built merely on shared interests, but we believe really in deepening convergence of capabilities, of responsibilities, and what we do in the Indo – Pacific, we believe is absolutely crucial to its strategic stability.

There is a lot that we will and we should be talking about today, but I do particularly want to recognize that the signing of foundational agreements—especially SOSA recently, of our expanding defence trade, of our cooperation in Underwater Domain Awareness, autonomous systems, and the momentum in the Indus-X— I think all of these really speak of our deepening partnership.

The world is a complicated place, perhaps growing in its complexity, and certainly our partnership, and the contribution that we can make together would be of immense importance, not just for us, I think, but for the larger region – I would even argue, for the world.

Once again, it is a very great pleasure to be here with you, and I look forward to our conversations.

Washington D.C.
July 01, 2025