Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will depart next week for a trip to India, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Indonesia.
As part of his ninth official visit to the Indo-Pacific region, Secretary Austin will travel to India to meet with his counterpart, Minster of Defense Rajnath Singh, to discuss expanding defense industrial cooperation, enhancing interoperability, and advancing innovation through the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X). The Secretary and Minister Singh will also participate in the fifth 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue alongside Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar. Following the Ministerial, Secretaries Blinken and Austin will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Secretary Austin will then travel to the ROK for meetings with Minister of National Defense Shin Wonsik and other senior ROK leaders, including the 55th annual Security Consultative Meeting and the inaugural ROK-UN Command Member States Defense Ministerial Meeting. He will also meet with U.S. military commanders and service members on the Korean Peninsula, reaffirming the ironclad U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK.
While in Seoul, Secretary Austin will also mark Veterans Day by meeting with soldiers whose service and sacrifices have underwritten peace and security across the region for decades.
Secretary Austin will then travel to Indonesia for the 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus. While in Jakarta, he will conduct an ASEAN-United States Informal Meeting to discuss opportunities to expand ASEAN-U.S. security cooperation, one year after the elevation of the ASEAN-U.S. relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He will also meet with regional counterparts to express the United States' deep commitment to working alongside allies and partners in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Secretary's fourth trip to the Indo-Pacific this year — and his ninth since becoming Secretary of Defense — comes as the United States, along with U.S. allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific, continue to deliver historic momentum toward a shared regional vision for peace, stability, and prosperity.