India at the 13th ADMM-Plus: Counter-Terror Cooperation and India's Role as Net Security Provider
India took part in the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), held on 28 and 29 October 2026 in Cebu, the Philippines. The Philippines chairs ASEAN and the ADMM-Plus in 2026.
India's Defence Minister led the Indian delegation and spoke in the session on "Exchange of Views on Regional and International Security Issues".
India offered to share its "battle-tested" counter-terrorism experience with ASEAN countries and their dialogue partners. India co-chairs the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with Malaysia for the 2024 to 2027 cycle.
India raised concern about disruptions on some maritime trade routes (sea lanes that carry shipping).
India said it will keep acting as a "trusted net security provider" in the Indian Ocean Region and the wider Indo-Pacific.
The meeting came in the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation (2026).
ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus): Asia's Defence Diplomacy Platform
The ADMM-Plus is a meeting where the defence ministers of the Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries sit down with the defence ministers of eight major partner countries. India is one of these eight partners. The forum lets these countries talk about security problems and run joint practical work, such as exercises and expert groups.
The Cebu meeting was the 13th ADMM-Plus. India's offer to share counter-terrorism experience fits its current role as co-chair of the counter-terrorism working group.
Net Security Provider (NSP) Doctrine and the Indian Ocean Region
A net security provider is a country that gives more security to its region than it takes from it. In simple words, it is a country that its neighbours can count on in a crisis: to fight pirates, guard sea lanes, rescue people after a cyclone or earthquake, and help smaller countries protect their own waters. For India, the idea is mainly about the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the sea area where India sits at the centre.
At the ADMM-Plus in Cebu, India said it will keep acting as a "trusted net security provider" in the Indian Ocean and the wider Indo-Pacific. Its concern over disrupted maritime trade routes links directly to this role, since guarding sea lanes is a core part of what a net security provider does.
Act East Policy
The Act East Policy is India's plan to build strong ties with the countries to its east: Southeast Asia (especially ASEAN), East Asia (such as Japan and South Korea) and the wider Indo-Pacific. It covers trade, connectivity, culture, people-to-people links and, increasingly, security and defence. It replaced the older Look East Policy (1991) in November 2014.
India's participation at the ADMM-Plus and its offer to share counter-terror experience with ASEAN are part of the security side of the Act East Policy, especially in a year set aside for India-ASEAN maritime cooperation.
- 13th ADMM-Plus: 28 to 29 October 2026, Cebu, Philippines (Philippines is the 2026 chair)
- ADMM-Plus: ASEAN members plus 8 partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, US); first met 2010 in Hanoi; annual since 2017
- India co-chairs the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with Malaysia, 2024 to 2027
- ASEAN has 11 members after Timor-Leste joined in October 2025
- 2026: ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation
- "Net provider of security" first used for India by Robert Gates, 2009
- SAGAR (2015) to MAHASAGAR (2025); IFC-IOR in Gurugram (2018)