India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited top military officials on Oahu this week on the heels of meetings in Washington, D.C. with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

In recent years, amid tensions with China, the U.S. and Indian militaries have been pursuing closer ties, through training exercises. But while the two countries have increased cooperation they’re not formally allies — both weigh competing interests as they navigate their sometimes complicated relationship.

Singh touched down in Honolulu on Tuesday while flying back to New Delhi from the fourth U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, which brings together the American Secretaries of State and Defense with Indian counterparts. On Oahu, Singh met with Adm. John Aquilino, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

A readout of the Hawaii visit, provided by INDOPACOM, said the two discussed how to advance their military partnership “in accordance with the objectives agreed to at the fourth India-U.S. Ministerial Dialogue” including through information sharing, teaming up more on logistics and refueling operations and continuing to hold regular joint training exercises.

Aquilino is the most senior military commander in the region. INDOPACOM, located at Camp Smith, oversees the U.S. military’s largest theater of operations, which includes all of the Pacific Ocean, much of the Indian Ocean, Australia, East Asia, parts of South Asia and parts of the Antarctic. The Pentagon currently considers it to be its top priority theater of operations.

Photos posted to social media on both American and Indian accounts showed Singh touring training areas on Oahu, meeting with U.S. Army Pacific commander Gen. Charles Flynn, visiting U.S. Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam and visiting a statue of Mohandas Gandhi near the Honolulu Zoo.

On Wednesday, Singh tweeted: “The Military to Military relationship between India and the United States has been strengthened in recent years.”

INDOPACOM, previously PACOM, was renamed in 2018 in recognition of the increasing overlap of commerce and security issues involving the Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as India’s growing prominence as both an economic and military power since the end of the Cold War.

However, India’s growth coincides with China’s. Border disputes and other disagreements have occasionally delivered clashes between the two nuclear- armed neighbors. In 2020, tensions over disputed borders in the Himalayas led to a series of deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops.

India is a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue — better known as the Quad — which brings officials from the U.S., Australia, Japan and India together periodically to discuss security, trade and diplomatic issues. It’s largely seen as an effort to counter Beijing’s growing influence, and Chinese officials have regularly condemned meetings.

However, while the U.S. and India continue to look for avenues of cooperation, the two countries aren’t without disagreements.

In a recent United Nations General Assembly vote on a resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India was one of 35 countries that abstained. While 141 countries voted in favor, five voted against it.

India is the world’s second-largest arms exporter — just behind Saudi Arabia — and Russia is the Indian military’s top source of new weaponry. Some American analysts have raised concerns that sharing information and equipment with India could open a backdoor that Russian spies and officials could exploit to glean information about American technology and strategies.

In December, Russia and India signed a new arms and technology deal. At that time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told reporters despite challenges posed by COVID-19, “the pace of relations between India and Russia has not changed, our special and privileged strategic partnership has been continuously strengthening.”

According to CNBC reports, last month India began buying up Russian oil and coal at a discount as other countries looked at bans and sanctions on Russian energy exports. On Monday, after a virtual meeting between President Joe Biden and Modi, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden urged Modi not to increase India’s use of Russian oil.

Russia has criticized the existence of the Quad as both Moscow and Beijing deepen their own military and trade ties. That hasn’t stopped India from stepping up its cooperation with other Quad members, with the Indian military moving farther into the Pacific.

Also on Monday, an Indian P-8I maritime patrol aircraft arrived in Darwin, Australia, for a week on joint operations with an Australian P-8A Poseidon looking for ships and submarines at sea. Those operations were ongoing as Singh made the rounds in Hawaii.

“India is a top-tier security partner and shares our commitment to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific,” the Australian Department of Defence tweeted Monday, adding, “This activity will pave the way for deeper and more sophisticated operational cooperation between our militaries.”