Rajnath Singh, Union Minister of Defence, will pay a three-day visit to Laos next week to attend a meeting of a grouping comprising 10-nation ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and some of its dialogue partners, which is expected to deliberate on evolving regional security situation.
He is likely to present India's position on dealing with major security challenges facing the region at the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), sources said.
The defence minister will visit Laos from November 20 to 22, they said.
ADMM-Plus is a platform comprising 10-nation ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners - India, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States. Laos is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of ADMM-Plus.
The meeting is likely to deliberate on the situation in the Indo-Pacific as well as ways to combat the threat of terrorism.
Singh is likely to hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of a number of participating countries. India became the dialogue partner of the ASEAN in 1992 and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi in October 2010. Since 2017, the ADMM-Plus ministers have been meeting annually to bolster security cooperation.
