- India
- Sep 28
What is ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus?
• Indian Navy’s frontline stealth frigate, INS Sahyadri, and missile corvette, INS Kulish, concluded their participation in the 23rd ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security Joint Cooperation Activity (EWG-MS JCA) at Subic Bay, Philippines.
• India’s participation reaffirmed its commitment to regional partnerships in consonance with the Act East Policy and the vision of MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).
ADMM-Plus
• ADMM-Plus is a platform comprising 11-nation ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and its eight dialogue partners — India, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States (collectively referred to as the “Plus Countries”).
• It aims to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.
• The inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi in Vietnam in October 2010.
• Since 2017, the ADMM-Plus meets annually, to allow enhanced dialogue and cooperation among ASEAN and the Plus Countries in the midst of an increasingly challenging regional security environment.
The objectives of the ADMM-Plus are:
i) To benefit ASEAN Member States in building capacity to address shared security challenges, while cognisant of the differing capacities of various ASEAN Member States.
ii) To promote mutual trust and confidence between defence establishments through greater dialogue and transparency.
iii) To enhance regional peace and stability through cooperation in defence and security, in view of the transnational security challenges the region faces.
iv) To contribute to the realisation of an ASEAN security community which, as stipulated in the Bali Concord II, embodies ASEAN’s aspiration to achieve peace, stability, democracy and prosperity in the region where ASEAN Member States live at peace with one another and with the world at large.
v) To facilitate the implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme, which calls for ASEAN to build a peaceful, secure and prosperous ASEAN, and to adopt greater outward-looking external relation strategies with our friends and Dialogue Partners.
What is ASEAN?
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok by five countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
• There are currently 11 member states: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.
• The ASEAN Summit is the highest policy-making body in ASEAN comprising the heads of State or government of ASEAN member states.
• As per regular practice, the ASEAN Summit Meetings shall be held twice annually. The first ASEAN Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia on February 23-24, 1976.
• ASEAN is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region. India and several other countries, including the US, China, Japan and Australia, are its dialogue partners.