Belgium has given India a Belgium Pakistan defence assurance, telling New Delhi it will not pursue defence cooperation or extend technological assistance to Pakistan. Defence sources said the assurance came out of bilateral talks in New Delhi on Thursday between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Belgium's Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade Theo Francken.

The exchange formed part of a broader conversation between the two ministers on the state of defence and industrial cooperation between the two countries, a readout later confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.

The Pakistan question was raised directly, defence sources said, rather than folded into general remarks about the relationship.

Rajnath Singh presses the Belgium Pakistan defence assurance

According to the sources, Rajnath Singh specifically raised India's concerns over the possibility of Belgian defence technology or expertise being extended to Pakistan during the meeting, a concern that covered both formal cooperation arrangements and informal technical assistance.

Francken responded by assuring the Indian side that Belgium stood firmly with India. Defence sources said there was "no question" of defence cooperation with Pakistan, in Francken's words, a formulation the sources described as unambiguous and unprompted by any specific incident they were willing to name.

Neither side elaborated further on the exchange, and no timeline was given for any follow up.

Also present at the talks, according to the readout, were Chief of the Army Staff Gen Dhiraj Seth and Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Mshl Ashutosh Dixit, reflecting the tri-service interest in a relationship that touches equipment, training and industrial supply chains alike.

Why the question keeps coming up with partner nations

India has been raising concerns with a range of international partners over the transfer of defence technologies and military equipment that could strengthen Pakistan's military capabilities, the sources said. The Belgium Pakistan defence assurance obtained on Thursday is the latest instance of that pattern rather than an isolated one, and it came without India needing to publicly name the concern first.

New Delhi has increasingly pressed the issue with partner nations directly in bilateral settings of this kind, rather than relying only on multilateral forums where such concerns can sometimes get diluted among competing agenda items and unrelated business.

The wider bilateral agenda beyond Pakistan

The two ministers also reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral defence and industrial cooperation between the two countries. They agreed to expand engagement through a defence cooperation dialogue, high level visits, and training and capacity building, without naming a specific programme, contract or timeline for any of the three strands.

Regional peace and security featured in the conversation too.

Both sides acknowledged the need for greater maritime security collaboration in the Indo-Pacific, and reiterated that the India Belgium partnership rests on shared values, mutual trust and respect, language broadly consistent with the readouts issued after earlier rounds of the relationship over the past year.

Thursday's meeting was held on the sidelines of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who is on an official visit to India, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

A roundtable set the commercial backdrop earlier in the day

Earlier, Francken and Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth addressed the India Belgium Defence CEOs Roundtable and B2B Meetings in New Delhi.

The event was attended by representatives of Belgian industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, drawing company executives from both sides of the relationship into the same room as the ministers. Francken used the session to place the relationship inside a wider European Union India frame, pointing to expanding cooperation in maritime security, information security and aerospace.

The developing institutional dialogue, he said, had established India as a trusted partner for the European Union. Emphasising the potential for deeper industrial collaboration, Francken called for joint efforts to strengthen the armed forces of both countries in an evolving security environment, language that echoed his remarks at the ministerial talks later in the day.

"United we stand, divided we fall," he said.

Seth pitches co production to Belgian manufacturers

Seth urged Belgian defence manufacturers to combine their technological expertise with India's manufacturing scale for co-development and co-production of niche defence products, building on the ten industry agreements signed during the Belgian delegation's visit earlier in the week.

Highlighting India's transformation in defence manufacturing, Seth said the country was moving from import dependence towards indigenous capability, trusted international partnerships and global competitiveness under initiatives such as Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India. He did not put a figure on how much of that shift has already taken place, or set out a timeline for the remainder of it, leaving the pace of the transition an open question that the roundtable did not attempt to answer on the day.