Top defence officials of 18 countries pledge to enhance dialogue, security cooperation

SINGAPORE - Top defence officials from 18 countries have pledged to continue enhancing strategic dialogue and promoting practical cooperation on regional defence and security issues.

In a joint declaration issued on Thursday (Dec 10), they also made a commitment to uphold their annual meeting as the de-facto multilateral mechanism for defence cooperation in an Asean-centred regional architecture.

The meeting of the 7th Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) involves the 10 Asean members and eight dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Thursday's meeting marked 10 years since the ADMM-Plus was established in 2010.

In this period, the ADMM-Plus has successfully facilitated open and constructive dialogue on regional security issues, Singapore's Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday.

It has also developed practical cooperation in domains such as maritime security, counter-terrorism, and humanitarian help and disaster relief, the ministry added.

At the meeting held via video conference, the defence leaders agreed that deeper collaboration among their countries was important in addressing the complex challenges of the security landscape.

They also exchanged views on the regional and international security environment, Mindef said.

The leaders at the meeting included China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, US Acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Asean defence ministers.

Speaking at the end of the ADMM-Plus and the ADMM held a day earlier (Dec 9), Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the two joint declarations from the meetings showed the commitment to address current problems and the resolve to work together for the future.

"It was significant that both joint declarations talked about the basis for dealing with the present challenges as well as our future. And that would be consistency with the rule of law, peaceful settlement of disputes and, in particular, for the South China Sea," he said in an interview transcript released by Mindef.

"But also, the second aspect is that we would redouble our efforts in military engagements, including through the Experts' Working Groups."

There are seven Experts' Working Groups which seek to promote practical cooperation. They include the groups on maritime security, cyber security, and counter-terrorism and military medicine.

The ADMM-Plus was inaugurated on Oct 12, 2010, in Vietnam and started as a triennial affair before becoming biennial. Since 2017, it has been held annually.

Dr Ng said the ADMM-Plus started as a leap of faith. The initial plan to meet the eight non-Asean countries every three years "was the extent of our faith".

He added: "Over the years, it has moved down to every two years and now annually. This is a request from the Plus partners, so it shows that it is important."

Other countries also want to join the group, he said, and this reflects how the ADMM-Plus has established itself to be the de facto security grouping in the region.

Mindef, in its statement, said the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Security Vision of the ADMM-Plus reaffirmed the countries' shared commitment to peace and stability in view of ongoing security challenges.

The Asean-Japan Defence Ministers' Informal Meeting was also held virtually on Thursday.

Asean defence ministers welcomed Japan's newly-appointed Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi to the ADMM-Plus. They expressed their appreciation for Japan's continued engagement of the region and commitment to the 18-member meeting, said Mindef.

The ministers exchanged views on enhancing bilateral and multilateral defence cooperation and promoting regional security and stability, it added.