Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be attending the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting – Plus (ADMM-Plus) at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on November 1.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be attending the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting – Plus (ADMM-Plus) at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on November 1. The meeting is focused on to further strengthen the defence and security cooperation among ASEAN member states and India and advance the ‘Act East Policy’. Rajnath Singh will address the forum on ‘Reflection on 15 years of ADMM-Plus and Charting the Way Forward’.
On the sidelines, the second edition of ASEAN-India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting, under the chairmanship of Malaysia, will be held on October 31, wherein Defence Ministers from all ASEAN member countries will take part.
During his two-day visit, the defence minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the participating ADMM-Plus nations as well as the senior leadership from Malaysia.
ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
ADMM-Plus
ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste & Vietnam) and its eight Dialogue Partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia & New Zealand) to strengthen security and defence cooperation.
India became the dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 12, 2010.
Since 2017, ADMM-Plus is held annually to bolster the defence cooperation among ASEAN and plus countries.
Under the construct of ADMM-Plus, India is the co-chair of Experts Working Group on Counter Terrorism with Malaysia for the cycle 2024-2027.
The second edition of ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise is also scheduled in 2026.