India, May 30 -- Calling India a key pillar of regional stability, "a critical anchor", US secretary of war Pete Hegseth on Saturday noted that it is modernising its military to serve shared objectives. These include "maintaining a balance of power" in the Indo-Pacific region, and collaborating with the United States on that.

Hegseth was speaking on the second day of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. "In South Asia, India is a critical anchor to hold the line," he said.

He also spoke of why the US would want India to act in its own interests above everything else. "A powerful India acting in its own self-interest advances our shared goal of maintaining a balance of power across the region," he added.

"India is modernising its milit...