Staff Reporter
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a two-day visit to Cambodia from 22nd of November. Cambodia, as the chair of ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus meeting, is hosting the 9th annual meeting at Siem Reap.
Mr Singh will address the forum on 23rd November and also call on the Prime Minister of Cambodia. India and Cambodia will co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting presided over by Mr Rajnath Singh to commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations.
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 the inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on 12th October 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’.
The Defence Minister will hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts of the participating countries. During the talks, Mr Singh will discuss defence cooperation matters and ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial engagements.