KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The participation of Malaysia in the 17th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and 10th ADMM-Plus in Jakarta, Indonesia signifies Malaysia’s continued commitment to Asean.

The Ministry of Defence in a statement said the two-day meeting starting today, will discuss defence and security issues at the regional and international levels which are of mutual interest.

"The presence of the Defence Minister (Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan) together with the Malaysian delegation to the 17th ADMM and 10th ADMM-Plus is very important to show the leadership of Malaysia and the Asean unity in discussing regional and international defence and security issues that are of importance together.

"The ADMM and ADMM-Plus meeting is also a confidence building measure in dealing with the current situation and increasing multilateral cooperation in dealing with defence and security issues in the South-east Asian region,” said the statement.

The meeting was chaired by Indonesian Minister of Defence Prabowo Subianto as Chairman of ADMM and ADMM-Plus for 2023.

According to the statement, the two meetings are the main platform for Asean and Asean Dialogue Partners in improving interoperability and togetherness between the armed forces of their respective countries in the identified areas.

Asean dialogue partners consist of the United States, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Russia.

The Ministry of Defence also said Malaysia will co-chair with India the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Counter Terrorism for the term 2024-2027.

"The Ministry of Defence started making preparations for the ADMM and ADMM-Plus meetings as Asean will be chaired by Malaysia in 2025.

"Malaysia congratulates Indonesia as Asean Chairman in 2023 for the successful organisation of 17th ADMM and 10th ADMM-Plus Meeting,” according to the statement. — Bernama