Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade of Belgium, Theo Francken, in New Delhi on Thursday, Sept 3, 2026. 

During the interaction, the two sides reviewed the entire spectrum of defence and industrial cooperation, the Defence Ministry said.

The two ministers agreed to expand bilateral ties through defence cooperation dialogue, high-level visits, training and capacity building.

Both leaders also discussed issues of regional peace & security and acknowledged the need for maritime security collaboration in the Indo-Pacific. They reiterated that the partnership between India and Belgium is based on shared values of mutual trust and respect.

The meeting was conducted on the sidelines of a meeting between Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Belgium Mr Bart De Wever in New Delhi.

Subsequently, the Belgian Defence Minister along with India’s Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Sanjay Seth took part in the India-Belgium Defence CEOs Roundtable and B2B meetings in New Delhi on Thursday.

The event, attended by representatives of the Belgian industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), aimed at deeper defence industrial collaboration between the two nations to build stronger militaries through co-development & co-production, a separate statement issued by the Defence Ministry said.

The Belgian Defence Minister emphasised the strong potential for deeper industrial collaboration between India and Belgium to strengthen the defence forces through collective efforts. 

MoS Defence Sanjay Seth urged Belgian defence manufacturers to leverage their technological expertise alongside India’s manufacturing scale for co-development & co-production of niche products for shared security and prosperity. 

Highlighting the strategic transformation of India’s defence manufacturing sector, Seth said that the nation is decisively moving from import dependence to indigenous capability, trusted partnerships, and global competitiveness through initiatives such as Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make-in-India. 

“This transformation is outward-facing. Strategic autonomy is best secured through credible, mutually beneficial international collaboration,” he said.

India and Belgium can leverage their strengths and prioritise collaboration in areas including cyber security, AI-enabled unmanned aerial systems, underwater domain vehicles, and complex weapon systems, the MoS Defence further noted. 

He said that innovation platforms like iDEX and ADITI are engaging start-ups and MSMEs in AI, quantum technologies, military communications, anti-drone systems, and adaptive camouflage, providing “excellent avenues for bilateral R&D and industrialisation”.

During the event, multiple MoUs were exchanged towards leveraging Belgian technology with Indian skill and scale. 

These include pacts between SIDM and Belgian Security & Defence Industry; Larsen & Toubro Limited (India) and Exail Robotics SAS (France) and EXAIL Robotics (Belgium); Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd (India) and FN Herstal (Belgium); Tembo Classic Engineering Pvt Ltd (India) and Lachaussée SA (Belgium); India Optel Ltd (India) and OIP (Belgium); Krishna Industries Pvt Ltd (India) and Pitagone (Belgium); DGVK Enterprises Private Limited (India) and Sol1 BV (Belgium); and Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd (India) and Thales Belgium SA and Thales India Pvt Ltd, the Defence Ministry said.