ASEAN DEFENCE MINISTERS MEET IN MALAYSIA

Ministers of Defence of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian National (ASEAN) held their inaugural meeting on 9 May in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

During the meeting, the ministers exchanged views on the current regional and international security situation. They welcomed the prevailing peaceful and stable inter-state relations in Southeast Asia and agreed that continued efforts should be undertaken to address security challenges.

They agreed to contribute to the establishment of an ASEAN Security Community (ASC) as declared at the 9th ASEAN Summit held in Bali, Indonesia on 7 Oct 03, and mandated under the Vientiane Action Programme.

The ministers reaffirmed the goal of ASC "to bring ASEAN s political and security co-operation to a higher plane to ensure that countries in the region live at peace with one another and with the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious environment."

Also reaffirmed were the principles of ASC, such as to abide by the Charter of the United Nations and other principles of international law, and to uphold ASEAN s principles.

The ministers adopted the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) concept paper and agreed that the ADMM should be an integral part of ASEAN, add value to, and complement, the overall ASEAN process, and be open, flexible and outward-looking in respect of engaging ASEAN's friends and dialogue partners as well as ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

Expressing their support for ARF as the leading co-operative process towards promoting peace and stability among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the ministers directed their civilian and military officials to participate continuously in the ARF Security Policy conference, ARF Defence Officials' Dialogue and other ARF activities.

They also supported the continuation of informal consultations among the ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Force; Army, Navy and Air Force Chiefs; Heads of Coast Guards and Heads of Military Intelligence units.

In addition the ministers agreed to establish an ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM) to support ADMM activities.

They also commended the ASEAN Working Group on Security Co-operation of the Special Senior Officials' Meeting and the ASEAN Secretariat for laying the groundwork for the establishment of ADMM.

The key objectives of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting are:
- To promote regional peace and stability through dialogue and co-operation in defence and security.
- To give guidance to existing senior defence and military officials dialogue and co-operation in the field of defence and security within ASEAN, and between ASEAN and its dialogue partners.
- To promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges and enhancement of transparency and openness.
- To contribute to the establishment of ASC as stipulated in the Bali Concord II and promote the implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme on ASC.