Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will take part in the maiden India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia for two days beginning November 22. He will also review bilateral ties with his counterparts of the ASEAN nations on the sidelines of the high-profile event.
Giving details of his schedule here on Sunday, defence ministry officials said Rajnath is visiting Cambodia at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia Samdech Pichey Sena TEA Banh. Cambodia, as the chair of ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus (ADMM Plus) meeting, is hosting the 9th annual meeting at Siem Reap, Cambodia and Rajnath will address the forum on November 23, 2022.
He will also call on the Prime Minister of Cambodia. 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 Rajnath, they said. 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 inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 12, 2010.
Since 2017, ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting annually to further dialogue and cooperation amongst ASEAN and the Plus countries. India and ASEAN elevated their relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in November 2022.
Apart from ADMM-Plus meeting and India-ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting, Rajnath will hold bilateral discussions with Defence Ministers of participating countries. During talks, he will discuss defence cooperation matters and ways to further strengthen mutually beneficial engagements.