India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with his New Zealand, South Korean, and Vietnamese counterparts in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday during the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), reaffirming India’s focus on strengthening defence ties across the Indo-Pacific.
In a series of posts on X, Singh announced that he had extended an invitation to New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins to visit India, noting that both countries share a commitment to advancing a forward-looking defence partnership.
“Glad to meet New Zealand’s Defence Minister Judith Collins in Kuala Lumpur. I extended her the invitation to visit India. Her visit will reaffirm the shared vision of India and New Zealand to build a forward-looking partnership in defence,” Singh said.
Collins, in a LinkedIn post, confirmed the meeting and wrote, “I met today with India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. I was invited to visit India and we shared our vision of increasing our defence new cooperation,” the post read.
Singh also met South Korea’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back, describing the engagement as a “delight to meet” on the sidelines of ADMM-Plus in Kuala Lumpur.