New Delhi, 20 Nov: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Cambodia from November 22-23 to attend ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus and India-ASEAN Defence Ministers meeting.
Singh will pay the two-day official visit to Cambodia at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia Samdech Pichey Sena TEA Banh, the defence ministry here said in a statement.
Cambodia, as the chair of ADMM-Plus, is hosting the ninth annual meeting at Siem Reap, Cambodia and Singh will address the forum on November 23. He will also call on the Prime Minister of Cambodia, the statement said.
“To commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations, India and Cambodia will co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting on November 22, presided over by Rajnath Singh. Various initiatives to boost India-ASEAN partnership are planned to be announced during the meeting,” it 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 have elevated their relationship to ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in November 2022, the statement said.
Apart from the ADMM-Plus and India-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ meeting, Singh will hold bilateral discussions with defence ministers of the participating countries. During the talks, Singh will discuss defence cooperation matters and ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial engagements, the defence ministry said. (PTI)