Rajnath Singh to co-chair India-ASEAN defence ministers meet

New Delhi, Nov 20: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to attend the India-ASEAN meet on November 22nd and 23rd. He will be attending the ASEAN defence minister plus meeting and the India-ASEAN defence ministers meeting.

To commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations, India and Cambodia will co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting on November 22, 2022, presided over by Shri Rajnath Singh. Various initiatives to boost India-ASEAN partnership are planned to be announced during the meeting.

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 Ministers have been meeting annually to further the dialogue and cooperation amongst ASEAN and the Plus countries. India and ASEAN have elevated their relationship to 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' in November 2022.

Apart from the ADMM-Plus meeting and India-ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting, the Raksha Mantri will hold bilateral discussions with Defence Ministers of the participating countries. During the talks, Rajnath Singh will discuss defence cooperation matters and ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial engagements.

Rajnath Singh will also call on the Prime Minister of Cambodia.