Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Malaysia at the end of October to participate in the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), a major multilateral defence forum focused on regional security and cooperation.

The meeting, scheduled to begin on 30 October in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to bring together defence ministers from ASEAN member states, along with strategic partners including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and Australia.

This year’s ADMM-Plus assumes particular significance amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. The discussions are expected to cover maritime security, strategic stability, counter-terrorism, and supply chain resilience, with a focus on upholding regional peace and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Rajnath Singh’s visit will also feature a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from key regional powers. Interactions with his American and Chinese peers are particularly anticipated, as India continues to promote dialogue and multilateral engagement as tools for confidence-building and conflict prevention.

During his previous participation in the meeting held in Laos last November, Singh met then Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu. The discussion was marked by a constructive tone, with both sides agreeing on the importance of identifying the underlying causes of boundary tensions and working towards incremental de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control.

In a subsequent encounter in June this year on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Qingdao, Singh met China’s current Defence Minister Dong Jun. The two leaders exchanged views on the continuing border situation, with Singh emphasising that a lasting resolution requires formal demarcation of the Sino-Indian boundary and enhanced transparency in military communication mechanisms.

The upcoming ADMM-Plus therefore provides a renewed diplomatic platform for India to underline its emphasis on a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The visit is also likely to reinforce India’s expanding defence cooperation with ASEAN nations through joint exercises, capacity-building efforts, and defence technology collaborations.

Based On ET News Report