Jaito, 15 November (Paigam-e-Jagat) Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will attend the 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (14-) from November 16 to 17, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The Defense Minister will be on an official visit to Indonesia's capital Jakarta till November 2023, where he will address a forum on regional and international security issues during this important meeting starting from November 16. Indonesia is the chair of the 14- and is hosting the meeting this year.
Apart from the 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus, Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral talks with the defense ministers of the participating countries. They will discuss issues of defense cooperation to further strengthen mutually beneficial ties. ADMM is the highest defense consultation and cooperation mechanism in the interest of ASEAN countries. 14- Acts as an important dialogue platform for ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Strengthening of security and defense cooperation among its 8 dialogue partner countries (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) will also be discussed.
India became one of the 151 dialogue partner countries in 1992 and the inaugural session of the 14th was held on 12 October 2010 in Hanoi, Vietnam. ADMM-Plus ministers have been meeting annually since 2017 to promote cooperation between ASEAN and Plus countries. The 14-plus works with member states through 7 expert working groups (57) namely maritime security, military medicine, cyber security, peacekeeping operations, counter-terrorism efforts, demining operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (814). The next batch of Co-Chairs for the 2024-27 cycle will also be announced during the 10th 14-plus. India co-chairs 57 at 814 with Indonesia in the current cycle of 2021-24.