Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Malaysia to attend the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Defence Ministers meeting on November 1, according to an official statement on Wednesday.
The Asean Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism among Asean countries.
Ahead of the meeting, the second edition of Asean-India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting is scheduled for October 31 under the chairmanship of Malaysia, bringing together all defence ministers from Asean member states, to advance India’s Act East Policy and increase the defence and security ties with the countries in the grouping, the statement issued by the Ministry of Defence stated.
Singh will also address the forum on the theme “Reflection on 15 years of ADMM-Plus and charting the way forward,” the statement said. In addition, he will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from participating ADMM-Plus nations and engage with the senior leadership of Malaysia.
The ADMM-Plus comprises 10 Asean member states, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, along with eight dialogue partners- India, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
India became the dialogue partner of Asean in 1992. Since 2017, the meetings have been held annually to bolster the defence cooperation among Asean plus countries.
Under the ADMM-plus framework, India serves as the co-chair of the experts working group on counter terrorism with Malaysia for the 2024–2027 cycle.
The second edition of the Asean-India Maritime Exercise is scheduled to be held in 2026.
 "Rajnath to attend 12th Asean Defence Ministers meeting in Malaysia")
