ASEAN defense ministers agree to strengthen regional defense cooperation to strengthen solidarity for harmonized security

The 16th edition of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) was held in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh face to face on Wednesday (June 22), following two years of virtual meetings produced by the Covid pandemic.

Defense ministers embraced the joint declaration on protection collaboration to reinforce solidarity for harmonized security, said the Ministry of Defense in a statement on Wednesday.

“The declaration reaffirmed the countries’ commitment to enhancing strategic dialogue and practical defense cooperation through the ADMM and ADMM-Plus as the region’s key security architecture, and highlighted the importance of ASEAN centrality and the need to uphold a rules-based order anchored in international law.”

The ADMM-Plus is a dialogue that includes ASEAN and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, as well as the United States.

Singapore’s Minister for Defense Ng Eng Hen expressed conversations at the ADMM were useful and covered a scope of current security issues, remembering dangers for the cyber and information domain.

The meeting likewise embraced the terms of reference of the ADMM Cybersecurity and Information Center of Excellence (ACICE), which spells the extent of its exercises.

Found in Singapore, the ACICE was established last year to share information and build capacity against dangers in the cyber and information domains.

Dr. Ng added that the ADMM had given a considerable joint declaration, which encouraged the early determination of a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

He likewise underscored Asean’s endeavors to achieve quiet progress to business as usual in Myanmar through executing the five-point agreement of the ASEAN chiefs’ leaders meeting in April 2021.

The 16th ADMM likewise embraced the Phnom Penh vision on the role of protection establishments in the support of Covid-19 recuperation, co-sponsored by Cambodia and Singapore, said Mindef.

“The vision recognizes the ADMM’s contributions to national Covid-19 efforts, including through the network of ASEAN chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) defence experts and the ASEAN Centre of Military Medicine.

“It pledges to continue cooperation to support the region’s recovery from the pandemic, such as by leveraging the network of ASEAN CBR defence experts to exchange information and lessons learned to combat the pandemic.”

As well as going to the ADMM, Dr. Ng participated in a joint call on Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as the ASEAN-Japan and Asean-China defense ministers’ informal meetings.

Dr. Ng additionally approached Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, General Tea Banh, added Mindef.

The two parties reaffirmed cordial bilateral protection ties between the countries, as well as the significance of ASEAN centrality and unity amid geopolitical developments.

The ADMM retreat and the 9th ADMM-Plus meeting will be held later in the year, the setting for which is yet to be affirmed.