Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to attend 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Jakarta

New Delhi [India]: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to attend the 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADM plus) in Jakarta, Indonesia, from November 16-17, the Ministry of Defence said.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ meet, Singh will also have bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of participating countries there. During these sessions, the Ministers will discuss issues related to defence cooperation
Indonesia is hosting the meeting as it is the chair of ADMM-Plus.

During the meeting, which will take place on November 16, the Union Defence Minister will address the forum on regional and international security issues.

According to the Defence Ministry release, the ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. Moreover, ADMM-Plus is a platform for the ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its eight dialogue partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) to strengthen security and defence cooperation.

Since 2017, the ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting annually to bolster cooperation amongst ASEAN and the Plus countries. In 1992, India joined ASEAN as a dialogue partner, and on October 12, 2010, the first ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The ADMM-Plus progresses practical cooperation amongst member countries through seven Expert Working Groups (EWGs), namely Maritime Security, Military Medicine, Cyber Security, Peacekeeping Operations, Counter Terrorism, Humanitarian Mine Action and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), the release read.

During the 10th ADMM-Plus, the next set of co-chairs for the cycle 2024-2027 will also be announced. In the present cycle, from 2021 to 2024, India is co-chairing the EWG on HADR along with Indonesia.