‘India, ASEAN must work together for maritime security in the region’
   Date :23-Nov-2022

‘India, ASEAN 
 
 
 
NEW DELHI, 
THE maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting was held in Cambodia on Tuesday during which Defence Minister Rajnath Singh proposed two major initiatives for further expanding the scope and the depth of defence ties.
The meeting, jointly chaired by Singh and his Cambodian counterpart, General Samdech Pichey Sena Tea Banh, was held at Siem Reap to mark the 30th anniversary of India-ASEAN relations in 2022, which has also been designated as ‘ASEAN-India Friendship Year’, the defence ministry said in a statement here.
Singh, in his address, highlighted the historic and robust ties that India shares with ASEAN countries. He also conveyed India’s continued advocacy for a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific while also suggesting the need for India and ASEAN to work together for maritime security in the region, it said.
Holds bilateral meeting: DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin as the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest while expressing their commitment to a strong India-US defence cooperation.
Singh and Austin are in Cambodia to attend the 9th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus, the defence ministry here said in a statement. It said Singh and Austin met each other at Siem Reap with “great warmth” and “expressed satisfaction at the growing bilateral defence engagements”.