New Delhi: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday held bilateral meetings with his Indonesian and Vietnamese counterparts on the sidelines of 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ meeting – Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Jakarta, Indonesia, a Defence Ministry official said.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that during his meeting with the Defence Minister of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, Singh appreciated Indonesia’s leadership of ASEAN this year, and the excellent organisation of the ADMM-Plus.
The two Ministers took stock of the bilateral defence relationship and re-committed to further strengthen cooperation, particularly in the maritime domain.
They also reviewed the regular exchanges in the form of training, staff talks and exercises, and discussed avenues for promotion of defence industry collaboration.
Both countries have co-chaired the Expert Working Group (EWG) on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) for 2021-2024, the official added.
The Union Defence Minister also held talks with the Minister of National Defence of Vietnam General Phan Van Giang.
The MoD added that the two ministers reviewed the progress in the implementation of the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’ signed during the visit of Rajnath Singh to Vietnam in June 2022.
They committed to work together for the deepening of the multifaceted bilateral defence ties, spanning across a wide spectrum covering training, capacity building, defence industry cooperation, UN peacekeeping, bilateral ship visits and exercises, the MoD official added.
The Defence Minister also met with Secretary General of ASEAN, Kao Kim Hourn, on the sidelines of the 10th ADMM-Plus.
While reiterating India’s continued support to ASEAN centrality, Singh appreciated ASEAN member states’ enthusiastic participation in India-ASEAN activities, including the first ASEAN-India Informal Defence Ministers’ Meeting, maiden ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise, India’s Initiatives for Women in UN Peacekeeping Operations and for Marine Plastic Pollution Response, the official said.
The Union Defence Minister further appreciated ASEAN Secretariat’s excellent support in implementation of ASEAN-India projects. They exchanged views on ways and means to further enhance ASEAN-India cooperation in view of advancing the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Earlier on Thursday, Singh attended the 10th ADMM-Plus.
He congratulated the Indonesian Defence Minister for the successful chairmanship of ADMM-Plus.
During the course of the meeting, the Union Defence Minister welcomed Laos as the new chair of ADMM-Plus and wished them all success for conduct of events in 2024.
–IANS