Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday departed for Cebu in the Philippines to attend the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), scheduled to be held on October 28 and 29.
During the meeting, Singh will address regional and international security issues and discuss ways to strengthen defence cooperation and strategic partnerships with participating countries.
In a post on X, the Defence Minister described ADMM-Plus as the premier platform for defence and strategic consultations in the region.
He said India remains firmly committed to ASEAN centrality and to promoting peace, stability and collective growth in the Indo-Pacific region under its Act East Policy.
Singh will lead the Indian delegation at the meeting and deliver an address on the theme, ‘Exchange of Views on Regional and International Security Issues’, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Bilateral Meetings on Defence Cooperation
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Defence Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts from participating countries to review ongoing defence cooperation and explore new avenues for strengthening strategic partnerships.
Singh said these interactions would provide an opportunity to assess existing defence ties and identify areas for further collaboration.
About ADMM-Plus
The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ADMM-Plus brings together the 11 ASEAN member states and eight Dialogue Partners — India, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — to strengthen regional security and defence cooperation.
The 11 ASEAN member states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
India became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992, while the inaugural ADMM-Plus meeting was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, defence ministers have met annually under the framework to advance cooperation on regional security challenges.
The Philippines is chairing ADMM-Plus in 2026. India is also co-chairing the Experts Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with Malaysia for the 2024–2027 cycle.
-ANI
