ASEAN countries discuss increasing defense cooperation
On August 27, high-ranking military delegations from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and dialogue partner countries arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan to attend a series of bilateral meetings and regional defense conferences, taking place from August 27-29.
The high-ranking Vietnamese military delegation was led by General Phung Quang Thanh, Minister of National Defense.
As scheduled, ASEAN delegations will attend two retreats, the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials' Meeting (ADSOM) Retreat on August 27 and the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) Retreat a day later. ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh will also attend the retreat.
In addition, delegates are also expected to attend the ASEAN-US informal conference and have many other bilateral meetings.
At the 2nd ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) on August 29, ASEAN delegates and partner countries including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US will focus on discussing progress in five areas of practical cooperation: humanitarian assistance and disaster response, military medicine, peacekeeping operations, maritime security and counter-terrorism.
In addition, delegates will also witness the handover ceremony of the ADMM Chairmanship from Brunei to Myanmar and the signing of the Conference's joint statement.
According to Brunei media, at the first ADMM+ held in Vietnam in 2010, most defense ministers expressed concerns about current non-traditional security challenges such as piracy, cyber security and climate change. Delegates acknowledged the need for cooperation within ASEAN and with partners outside the bloc in addressing the issue to meet the goal of establishing an ASEAN Political-Security Community by 2015.
According to delegates, ADMM+ is "a tool to connect ASEAN dialogue partners to participate in dialogue and cooperation in the fields of defense and security"./.
According to (TTXVN) - DT
