Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to attend ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus meeting at Cambodia

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a two-day visit to Cambodia, beginning November 23, to attend the ninth ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus (ADMM Plus) meeting and hold bilateral talks.

Singh will be visiting Cambodia at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia Samdech Pichey Sena TEA Banh, the Defence Ministry said.

Singh is scheduled to address the forum on November 23 and also call on the Cambodian Prime Minister, said a defence ministry official.

According to the defence ministry, apart from the ADMM-Plus meeting and India-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting, Singh is scheduled to 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.

To commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations, India and Cambodia will co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting on November 22, presided over by Singh.

Various initiatives to boost India-ASEAN partnership are planned to be announced during the meeting, the official added.

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.

On the other hand, to strengthen the defence ties, the US Secretary of Navy, Carlos Del is on a five day visit to India till November 21 to meet Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and other senior officials.

The Navy said that he is interacting with the Chief of the Naval Staff and high ranking government of India officials in New Delhi.

Carlos Del Toro is scheduled to visit Indian Navy’s Southern Naval Command at Kochi, wherein he would interact with the Commander-in-Chief and visit India’s first indigenous Aircraft Carrier, INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard.