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OPINION DECEMBER 23, 2022 | The Indian Eye 10

The importance of ADMM-Plus

and India’s Act East Policy

It is an important forum that promotes ‘ASEAN centrality’ and ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’—both of which

are an essential part of India’s strategic interests in the region

R. VIGNESH & ABHAY KUMAR SINGH
For India, the ADMM-Plus is very important considering India’s endeavors to increase its strategic depth with the ASEAN nations
orums like the ADMM-Plus through the ‘Act East’ policy (IDSA)
have played a crucial role in
Fenhancing strategic depth be- South Korea, Australia, New Zealand ported by the other ASEAN nations. and smuggling. Through this EWG,
tween India and ASEAN. In a very and the US to collaborate on hard se- The breakthrough came in July 1993 the ADMM-Plus Maritime Securi-
short time, the ADMM-Plus has curity issues. It is an important forum during the Twenty-Sixth ASEAN ty Community Information-Sharing
evolved into a promising and inclusive that promotes ‘ASEAN centrality’ and Ministerial Meeting held in Singa- Portal (AMSCIP) has been estab-
forum for dealing with the hard-se- ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’—both pore, where consensus was reached lished to enhance the flow of informa-
curity issues of the Indo-Pacific. The of which are an essential part of India’s for establishing the ASEAN Regional tion among the members.
geographic contiguity of its members, strategic interests in the region. The Forum (ARF). In light of the ongoing COVID-19
the security orientation of its lead- Brief firstly analyses the factors that Since its establishment, the AD- pandemic, the EWG on MM has been
ership and its task-specific Expert led to the creation of ADMM-Plus MM-Plus progressively evolved to be- particularly proactive in the manage-
Working Groups (EWG) increase and makes assessments of its various come a promising forum that brought ment of pharmaceutical resources
ADMM-Plus’s potential to deliver strengths and limitations. Second, the together the ten ASEAN states and and creating innovation in health-
tangible outcomes beyond the rheto- significance of ADMM-Plus to India’s its eight dialogue partners for achiev- care.10 The ASEAN Centre for Mil-
ric of joint statements. Act East policy will be evaluated. ing practical cooperation on hard se- itary Medicine (ACMM) has been
The ADMM-Plus offers India The origins of ADMM-Plus are curity issues. Despite the underlying established in Bangkok and ASEAN
and ASEAN opportunities to devel- intricately embedded with the evolu- strategic competition and great power Military Medical handbook has been
op practical collaboration on security tion of collective defense architecture rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, the AD- drafted through this EWG.11 Ma-
issues ranging from terrorism, mari- and the security-oriented regionalism MM-Plus has achieved considerable jor headways in the enhancement
time threats and other non-tradition- of ASEAN. After the establishment success in forging practical security of collective CT capability has been
al threats. of ASEAN in 1967, its founding mem- collaborations between the crucial achieved through the ADMM-Plus’s
On 23 November 2022, the 9th bers were keen on building a peaceful stakeholders of the regions. The AD- dedicated EWG on CT. This EWG
ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meet- and stable region, given the then-pre- MM-Plus led by the Defense Minis- has been instrumental in creating the
ing Plus (ADMM-Plus) was held in vailing tensions of the Cold War char- ters and senior military officials has ‘Our Eyes’ initiatives for the dissemi-
Siem Reap, Cambodia. Raksha Man- acterized by Great power rivalry. As been successful in creating task-spe- nation of strategic information on ter-
tri (RM) Rajnath Singh attended the a result, fostering greater economic cific Expert Working Groups (EWG). rorism-related incidents and potential
meeting. The timing of the meeting and socio-cultural cooperation with Each of these EWGs focus on a spe- terror attacks.
was significant for India–ASEAN re- Southeast Asia was prioritized. cific non-traditional security issue and The ADMM-Plus has acknowl-
lations as it came just 11 days after the However, during the late 1970s is co-chaired by one ASEAN nation edged the potential of the power rival-
conclusion of the 19th ASEAN–India and 1980s, imperatives for fostering along with a dialogue partner for a cy- ries, strategic completion and territo-
Summit in Cambodia, where India– defense cooperation within Southeast cle of three years. rial disputes in the Indo-Pacific region
ASEAN Strategic Partnership was el- Asia was recognized. Such coopera- The Indo-Pacific being amongst that can generate trust deficit among
evated to a Comprehensive Strategic tion remained restricted to the bilat- the most disaster-prone regions of its members. As a result, the forum
partnership. eral level within ASEAN. Although the world, HADR has been a vital so far has restricted its agendas and
The ADMM-Plus brings togeth- the then Prime Minister of Singapore, area for cooperation among the AD- mechanisms to address issues within
er the ten ASEAN nations along Lee Kuan Yew, mooted the idea for MM-Plus nations. The EWG on MS the realm of non-traditional threats.
with its eight dialogue partners that the creation of a multilateral defense has been conducting regular TTX and This limits the scope of ADMM-Plus
include India, China, Russia, Japan, forum in the 1980s, it was not sup- FTX for countering threats like piracy Continued at next page... >>

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