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. According to an official press release of Ministry of Defence, “At the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia Samdech Pichey Sena TEA Banh, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will pay an official visit to Cambodia from November 22-23, 2022.”
Cambodia, as the chair of ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus (ADMM Plus) meeting is hosting the 9th annual meeting at Siem Reap, Cambodia and the Raksha Mantri will address the forum on November 23, 2022. He will also call on the Prime Minister of Cambodia, the release added.
Elaborating about the visit, the release read, “To commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations, India and Cambodia will co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting on November 22, 2022, presided over by Shri Rajnath Singh. Various initiatives to boost India-ASEAN partnership are planned to be announced during the meeting.”
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The media release added that 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 press release further stated.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of participating countries.
“During the talks, Shri Rajnath Singh will discuss defence cooperation matters and ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial engagements,” according to the release.
Recently, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar attended 17th East Asia Summit in Cambodia along with EAM Dr. S Jaishankar.
(With PTI Inputs)