Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Attend India-ASEAN Meet on Nov 22-23

What’s in today’s article?

• ASEAN Defense Ministers plus Meeting (ADMM) – About, ADMM-Plus
• News Summary

Why In News?

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers plus Meeting (ADMM plus) and the India-ASEAN defence ministers meeting at Siem Reap, Cambodia.

ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM)

• It is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN.
• It was established in 2006 and includes the 10 members of ASEAN.
• It aims to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges as well as enhancement of transparency and openness.

ADMM-Plus

• The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners.
• Dialogue Partners are – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and United States.
• The aim of ADMM-Plus is to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.
• It currently focuses on seven areas of practical cooperation, namely:
  • Maritime security,
  • Counter-terrorism,
  • Humanitarian assistance and disaster management,
  • Peacekeeping operations,
  • Military medicine,
  • Humanitarian mine action, and
  • Cyber security.
• The Inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Ha Noi, Vietnam, in October 2010.

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News Summary

• The 9^th ASEAN defence ministers-plus (ADMM Plus) meeting will be held at Siem Reap, Cambodia. India will be represented by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Key Highlights:

• Maiden India-ASEAN defence ministers meeting
  • During this visit, India and Cambodia will also co-chair the maiden India-ASEAN defence ministers meeting.
  • This is being hosted to commemorate 30 years of India-ASEAN relations.
  • Various initiatives to boost the India-ASEAN partnership are planned to be announced during meeting.
• India’s expectations during this visit
  • India wants to increase defence cooperation and ways to further strengthen the mutually beneficial engagements with ASEAN countries.
  • With an eye on China, India has been steadily ranking up military relations with ASEAN countries through combat exercises, exchanges, training programmes and now increasingly weapon supplies over the years.
    • India conducted the SIMBEX naval exercise with Singapore in the Bay of Bengal earlier this month.
    • In the November-December time-frame, the Indian Army is also conducting:
      • The ‘Agni Warrior’ exercise with Singapore,
      • The ‘Harimau Shakti’ with Malaysia and
      • The ‘Garud Shakti’ with Indonesia.
  • India inked the $375 million contract to export the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines in January 2022.
  • It is now looking for more such deals with other ASEAN countries like Indonesia and Vietnam.
  • India also plans to sell the indigenous Akash missile systems to countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, among other countries.
    • Akash missile systems can intercept hostile aircraft, helicopters, drones and subsonic cruise missiles at a range of 25-km.
• Key milestones in India – ASEAN relationship
  • India has been a partner of ASEAN since 1992 and the first ADMM plus meet was held in Hanoi, Vietnam in October , 2010. 
  • Since 2017 ASEAN defence ministers have been meeting annually to discuss cooperation between ASEAN Plus countries.
  • India and ASEAN elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November 2022, during 19th ASEAN-India Summit in Phnom Penh.