Rajnath Singh announces visit to Laos for ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meet Plus

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that that he is set to embark on an official visit to Laos from November 20 to November 22 to participate in the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus).

Sharing details on X, the Defence Minister said, “Today, 20th November, I’m leaving for Vientiane to attend the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) in Lao PDR”.

He noted that “Various regional and international security Issues will be discussed during the meeting”.

Singh is also scheduled to engage in separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other participating countries.

In Laos, Singh will address the forum on Regional and International Security issues .

On the sidelines of the 11th ADMM-Plus meeting, the Defence Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with participating counterparts from Australia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and the US. These meetings are aimed at further enhancing bilateral defence cooperation with these countries.

These meetings become significant as they are taking place after Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the leaders of various ADMM-Plus during the sidelines of the recently concluded G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

PM Modi had met US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol among other world leaders.

ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN.

ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its eight Dialogue Partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) to strengthen security and defence cooperation.

India became the dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 12, 2010.

Since 2017, ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting annually to bolster the cooperation between ASEAN and the Plus countries. Lao PDR is the chair and host of the 11th ADMM-Plus.