What happened:
On December 18, 2025, Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi addressed the 3rd Land Forces Summit hosted by the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force, where he proposed the ‘IKIGAI’ Framework to strengthen multilateral land force cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Why it matters:
The framework outlines a shared approach to interoperability, technology, logistics and humanitarian cooperation, reinforcing India’s role in shaping collective security and defence collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.