US defence chief engages South-east Asia counterparts in ‘informal’ meeting

SINGAPORE – US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin huddled with South-east Asia defence ministers and their representatives over an informal meeting on June 2 to speak about sustaining a rules-based regional security environment, the Singapore Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Mr Austin reaffirmed the US’ strong commitment to the region, and said it will continue to work to tackle security challenges in the Indo-Pacific with Asean countries.

The continued engagement and enhancement of defence cooperation with the Asean states will take place through platforms such as the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus, Mindef added.

The ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism among the 10 Asean member states. The ADMM-Plus is a platform used by Asean and its eight dialogue partners – namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US – to strengthen security and defence cooperation in the region.

At the meeting, Mindef said Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the US’ commitment to engage with Asean, and reaffirmed Singapore’s longstanding support for the US’ presence in the region. 

Dr Ng also looked forward to strengthening cooperation with the US, including through the ADMM-Plus, to promote peace and stability in the region, Mindef added.