Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. — Photo: indianewsnetwork.com

NEW DELHI — Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will pay an official visit to Vientiane, Laos from November 20-22 to attend the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus).

According to the Indian Defence Ministry, the minister will address the forum on Regional andVNS International Security Issues during the meeting.

On the sidelines of the event, he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with participating counterparts from Australia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea (RoK) and the US. These meetings are aimed at further enhancing bilateral defence cooperation with these countries.

ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and its eight dialogue partners - India, the US, China, Russia, Japan, the RoK, Australia and New Zealand - to strengthen security and defence cooperation.

India became the dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992. The inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hà Nội on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting annually to bolster the cooperation amongst ASEAN and the Plus countries. Laos, as ASEAN chair this year, hosts the 11th ADMM-Plus. — VNS