Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will attend the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 1 November 2025. He will address the forum on ‘Reflection on 15 years of ADMM-Plus and Charting the Way Forward’.

On the sidelines, the second ASEAN-India Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting—chaired by Malaysia—will be held on 31 October, with Defence Ministers from all ASEAN member states participating. The meeting will focus on strengthening defence and security cooperation between ASEAN countries and India, further advancing the Act East Policy.

During his two-day visit, Shri Rajnath Singh is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from ADMM-Plus nations and senior leadership from Malaysia.

The ADMM serves as the highest defence consultative and cooperative body within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ADMM-Plus brings together ASEAN member states—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam—and eight Dialogue Partners: India, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

India became a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in 1992, and the inaugural ADMM-Plus was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 12 October 2010. Since 2017, the forum has convened annually to strengthen regional defence cooperation.

Under the current structure, India and Malaysia co-chair the Experts Working Group on Counter Terrorism for the 2024–2027 cycle. Additionally, the second ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise is scheduled for 2026, underscoring India’s growing strategic partnership with the ASEAN region.