Rajnath Singh to Attend 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Laos

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will visit Vientiane, Lao PDR, from November 20 to 22, 2024, to participate in the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus). During this high-level forum, he will address critical topics related to regional and international security.

On the sidelines of the ADMM-Plus, Shri Rajnath Singh is expected to engage in a series of bilateral meetings with defence ministers from key countries, including the United States, China, Australia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea. These discussions aim to further strengthen defence cooperation between India and these nations.

The ADMM is the premier defence consultative and cooperative platform within ASEAN. The ADMM-Plus expands this framework by including ASEAN’s eight dialogue partners: India, the US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. The forum serves to enhance security and defence cooperation among these countries.

India became an ASEAN dialogue partner in 1992, and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, defence ministers from ASEAN and its dialogue partners have been meeting annually to deepen collaboration. This year, Laos is serving as the chair and host of the 11th ADMM-Plus.