Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will participate in the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 1, 2025. He will address the forum on the theme “Reflection on 15 Years of ADMM-Plus and Charting the Way Forward.”
Ahead of the main event, the second ASEAN-India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting will be held on October 31, under Malaysia’s chairmanship, with participation from Defence Ministers of all ASEAN member nations. The meeting aims to strengthen defence and security cooperation between India and ASEAN, further advancing the Act East Policy.
During his two-day visit, Shri Rajnath Singh is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts from ADMM-Plus countries and senior Malaysian leadership.
The ADMM-Plus serves as the highest defence consultative and cooperative platform within ASEAN, comprising ten ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam — along with eight Dialogue Partners: India, the US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
India became an ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1992, and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, the meeting has been held annually to enhance regional defence cooperation.
Under the ADMM-Plus framework, India and Malaysia are co-chairs of the Experts Working Group on Counter-Terrorism for the 2024–2027 cycle. The second ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise is also scheduled for 2026.