India and ASEAN elevated their ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in November 2022

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus meeting and the India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting during a visit to Cambodia on November 22-23.

Cambodia, as the chair of ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus (ADMM Plus), is hosting the 9th annual meeting at Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Defence Minister Singh, who has been invited by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Samdech Pichey Sena TEA Banh, will address the forum on November 23.

He will also call on the Prime Minister of Cambodia, the Ministry of Defence said, announcing the visit, on Sunday.

On November 22, India and Cambodia will co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting presided over by Defence Minister Singh.

Various initiatives to boost the India-ASEAN partnership are planned to be announced during the meeting that will commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations.

Apart from the ADMM-Plus meeting and India-ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting, Singh will hold bilateral discussions with Defence Ministers of the participating countries. During the talks, he will discuss defence cooperation matters and ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial engagements, the Ministry of Defence said.

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 further the dialogue and cooperation amongst ASEAN and the Plus countries.

India and ASEAN elevated their relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in November 2022.