New Delhi: Amid Chinese aggression and intending to foster relationships with most Southeast Asian Nations, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is all set to embark on a visit to Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday to attend the ASEAN Defense Ministers meeting-plus (ADMM-plus). Singh will not only attend the ASEAN meeting but will hold bilaterals with the leaders of the ASEAN countries. China is skipping the meeting.
ASEAN is becoming crucial both economically and strategically. Several ASEAN countries see China as a rival making the meeting significant. The Philippines has had a territorial dispute with China. Vietnam, on the other hand, has been a tough fight for China. India sees Vietnam as a strategic partner and is looking into boosting its relationship with the country. India has strong and stable ties with other ASEAN countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.
During the ASEAN defense ministers meeting, Rajnath Singh and his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto will discuss China and other regional issues. Talks will also focus on Quad Plus which means adding Indonesia to the Quad grouping apart from India, the US, Australia, and Japan will be pressed. Although, no concrete steps on this have been taken yet.
On the sidelines of the ADMM-Plus, Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of the participating countries and discuss defense cooperation matters to further strengthen mutually beneficial engagements.
The ASEAN Defence Minister Meeting is the highest defense consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for the 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 defense cooperation.
India became the dialogue partner of the ASEAN in 1992 and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, the ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting annually to bolster cooperation amongst the ASEAN and the Plus countries.
The ADMM-Plus progresses practical cooperation amongst member countries through seven Experts Working Groups (EWGs) namely Maritime Security, Military Medicine, Cyber Security, Peacekeeping Operations, Counter Terrorism, Humanitarian Mine Action, and Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR).
During the 10th ADMM-Plus, the next set of co-chairs for the cycle 2024-2willould also be announced. In the present cycle from 2021-2024, India is co-chairing EWG on HADR along with Indonesia.
Also read: Protocol-wise, India, China to be represented at equal level in Maldives presidential inauguration
