Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a series of key bilateral meetings with his counterparts from New Zealand, South Korea, and Vietnam on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The discussions underlined India’s firm commitment to enhancing strategic and security partnerships across the Indo-Pacific.

In his engagement with New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins, Singh reiterated India’s vision of establishing a forward-looking defence partnership. He extended an official invitation to Minister Collins to visit India, noting that the visit would help reinforce shared objectives in regional security and maritime cooperation.

Meeting South Korea’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back, Singh described their interaction as a productive exchange that reaffirmed the growing defence collaboration between New Delhi and Seoul. Both ministers reviewed opportunities for deeper engagement in defence production, emerging technologies, and maritime domain awareness in the wider Indo-Pacific.

Singh also held discussions with Vietnam’s Defence Minister Phan Van Giang, reflecting the deep strategic convergence between India and Vietnam. The two ministers appreciated the steady progress in bilateral defence cooperation, encompassing high-level exchanges, training programmes, and joint naval activities. Their meeting reaffirmed Vietnam’s importance as a key security partner for India in Southeast Asia.

These trilateral interactions formed part of India’s broader engagement during the ADMM-Plus, a strategic forum that brings together ASEAN member states and dialogue partners to promote defence coordination and regional stability.

Singh’s participation at the Kuala Lumpur meeting underscores India’s proactive role in upholding a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific.

Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh arrived in Malaysia to take part in the 12th ADMM-Plus, where he is scheduled to address the plenary session on the theme “Reflection on 15 Years of ADMM-Plus and Charting the Way Forward”. The forum will review the evolution of multilateral security cooperation and outline new paths for enhancing joint capability-building among members.

The ADMM serves as ASEAN’s principal defence consultation and cooperation mechanism, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. The ADMM-Plus extends this structure to include its eight dialogue partners—India, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

India has been an active dialogue partner of ASEAN since 1992. The inaugural ADMM-Plus was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2010, and since 2017 it has convened annually to foster defence collaboration and regional resilience. During the current 2024–2027 cycle, India is serving as co-chair of the Experts’ Working Group on Counter-Terrorism alongside Malaysia, reaffirming its vital role in shaping cooperative security mechanisms across the Indo-Pacific.

Based On ANI Report