On February 22, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III participated in the 5th North American Defense Ministerial (NADM) virtually, hosted by Mexico's Secretary of the Navy Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Duran in Mexico City, and attended by Mexico's Secretary of National Defense General Luis Cresencio Sandoval and Canada's Minister of National Defence Bill Blair, to discuss opportunities to strengthen North American defense cooperation.
Established in 2012, NADM is the premier forum to define and advance continental security with Canada and Mexico, develop a layered and integrated defense of North America, and enable trilateral collaboration on security and defense issues with two key partners in the Western Hemisphere. NADM is an opportunity to discuss strategic-level defense issues and identify priorities for future cooperation.
The NADM co-chairs discussed deepening regional defense cooperation, developing a continental threat assessment, fortifying cyber defense, and supporting trilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster response and strengthening climate security and resilience. Secretary Austin and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts re-affirmed the importance of the North American defense relationship, and Secretary Austin agreed to host the 6th NADM in 2025.
