Minister of Defence Senator Linda Reynolds will pay six days visit to Thailand and Japan from 17-22 November to attend the sixth ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Bangkok and a official visit to Japan for bilateral defence discussions and defence industry engagement.
From 17-19 November, Minister Reynolds will join 18 South East Asian and Indo-Pacific counterparts in Bangkok for the premier forum for engagement between regional defence ministers.
“ASEAN is at the heart of regional security and attending dialogues like this demonstrates Australia’s support for ASEAN’s regional leadership,” Minister Reynolds said in a statement on Friday.
ADMM-Plus is an opportunity to hear the perspectives of ASEAN and wider Indo-Pacific states, and to work together to help shape responses to shared security challenges.
“Meetings like ADMM-Plus allow Australia to reiterate its standing as a reliable regional partner – one that is invested in ongoing regional stability, supports the sovereignty and resilience of regional countries, and promotes shared rules, norms and institutions”, she added.
ADMM-Plus membership consists of the 10 ASEAN states and eight ‘Plus’ nations including Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the United States.
Defence Minister will travel to Tokyo from 20-22 November to meet with Japanese Defense Minister Kono and senior Ministry of Defense and Japan Self-Defense Force officials.
“Australia’s defence relationship with Japan has never been stronger. This year we held our first ever bilateral fighter jet exercise in Japan and sent a number of Royal Australian Navy ships to Japan for joint training”, Senator Reynolds acknowledged.
While in Japan Minister Reynolds, along with 22 Australian defence industry companies, will also attend Australia’s first Defence Trade Mission to Japan.
