Boosting defence, Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman holds bilateral talks with US and ASEAN in Singapore

Singapore, October 19: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday held a series of bilateral meetings with her US, ASEAN counterparts on the sidelines of ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meet in Singapore. The members will discuss ways to boost defence, regional security and promote strategic dialogue.

 

The 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus are being hosted by Singapore, which is being attended by the defence ministers from ASEAN countries and that of Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the US.

The ADMM and ADMM-Plus serves as key Ministerial-level platforms in the regional security architecture, promoting strategic dialogue and practical cooperation between ASEAN and its partners. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also met her Malaysian counterpart Mohamad bin Sabu, Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana and Vietnam Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich during her fast-paced day-long meetings.

Raksha Mantri is also set to hold a bilateral meet with her Singapore counterpart Dr Ng Eng Hen. India and Singapore will extend their already comprehensive bilateral defence collaboration. A new agreement for the Army-to-Army collaboration as well as bilateral hosting of logistics and furthering supports for exchange visits by of naval vessels of the two countries is likely to be signed.

Both the nations will also be celebrating 25 years of SINBEX, an annual exercise with a two-week naval exercise programme in the Bay of Bengal in the coming weeks. India and Singapore conduct regular exercises involving the armed forces, navies and air forces