WEB DESK
The maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting was held on Tuesday at Siem Riep, Cambodia to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of India-ASEAN relations in 2022. This year has been designated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year. The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia General Tea Banh.
In a series of tweets, Mr Singh said, India shares historic, robust, and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with ASEAN. He said, India deeply values the engagement with the ASEAN multilateral platforms such as ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus meeting and East Asia Summit. The Minister said, India is committed to the implementation of various initiatives and continues to offer its capacities and experience for strengthening the India-ASEAN Defence Relations.
During the meeting, Mr Singh proposed two major initiatives for further expanding the scope and the depth of the India-ASEAN defence relations. One of the initiatives proposed by Rajnath Singh was the India-ASEAN Initiative for Women in UN Peace Keeping Operations. He underlined the importance of women officers in peacekeeping missions for ensuring lasting peace. The second initiative was India-ASEAN Initiative on Marine Plastic Pollution which includes channelising of the energy of the youth towards addressing the critical issue of marine pollution. Mr Singh also proposed establishment of an India-ASEAN Marine Pollution Response Centre at Chennai to address and supplement regional efforts to deal with marine pollution incidents.