FURTHERING DEFENCE COOPERATION IN ASEAN AND BEYOND

The 10 ASEAN nations as well as Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States came together for the first ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus in Hanoi, Vietnam on 12 Oct.

"The ADMM-Plus meeting today is a historic one. For the first time, ASEAN has got together the eight key partners in one meeting. We were able to have a good discussion and exchange on issues of concern to us in defence and security areas," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean at an interview with cyberpioneer.

The ADMM-Plus is an important response to rapidly evolving strategic developments in the wider region, which gives the defence ministers and senior defence officials from ASEAN and the "Plus" countries the opportunity to exchange views on regional defence and security issues. The discussions touched on the major geo-political shifts which have taken place in recent years and their impact on the regional strategic landscape.

Specifically, member nations agreed on exploring further cooperation in five areas: maritime security, military medicine, counter-terrorism, peacekeeping operations, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. "All the countries expressed interest in all these areas and felt that these areas were of significant interest to the ADMM-Plus countries," said Mr Teo.

To drive the process, the ADMM-Plus agreed to set up Experts' Working Groups in each of these areas. These Groups will study how best to facilitate information-sharing and also examine ways to enhance existing security initiatives.

In addition, the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM)-Plus will be established. As the name implies, senior defence officials of ADMM-Plus member countries will form the group. It will be charged with the practical work required in implementing the agreements and decisions of the ADMM-Plus.

A significant milestone in the history of ASEAN, ADMM-Plus has the distinction of being the first formal security framework among the 18 nations. Following the signing of a Joint Declaration marking the official inception of the ADMM-Plus format on 12 Oct, member nations expressed confidence in its efficacy, saying the meeting enables them to work together to enhance the peace and stability of the region.

After the signing ceremony, the ASEAN and "Plus" ministers jointly called on Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet.

Mr Teo also mentioned the stellar support ASEAN and the ADMM-Plus format received at the meeting. "I was very gratified to hear all the ADMM-Plus countries expressing their support for ASEAN continuing to play a central role in ADMM-Plus... They see ASEAN as a reliable entity, to be able to bring together all these important countries and work together with us," he said before thanking host country Vietnam for its successful conduct of the meeting.

The idea for ADMM-Plus was mooted four years ago at the inaugural ADMM held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The second ADMM-Plus is slated for 2013, and will be held in Brunei.

On the sidelines of ADMM-Plus, Mr Teo held bilateral meetings with his ASEAN and non-ASEAN counterparts. In particular, he noted the good and growing bilateral defence relations between Singapore and Vietnam following the signing of the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries in September 2009.

Mr Teo is joined by senior defence officials such as Permanent Secretary for Defence Chiang Chie Foo and Director (Policy) Colonel Lai Chung Han at the ADMM-Plus meeting.