PANO – The ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Retreat and Unofficial ASEAN-Japan Defense Ministers’ Meeting were successfully held on November 16 in Vientiane, Laos. The high-ranking Vietnamese defense delegation led by Defense Minister, General Ngo Xuan Lich, participated in both events.

Addressing the ADMM Retreat, Defense Minister of Laos as the 2016 ASEAN Chair, Senior Lieutenant General Chansamone Channhalat, held that cooperation within the framework of the ADMM has continuously developed in recent time and achieved important outcomes.

ASEAN and Japanese Defense Ministers posing for a photo at the meeting

The ADMM’s achievements have been demonstrated by the establishment of a number of new mechanisms, initiatives and cooperation activities. “These fruitful results have shown our commitments to bolster ASEAN’s unity and central role, ensuring that we [ASEAN member countries] can build ASEAN into a regional bloc of peace, stability, security and development in line with the ASEAN Vision 2025,” the Lao Defense Minister said.

He also stated that the region is facing traditional and non-traditional security challenges that no single regional country can resolve on its own. Thus defense ministers of ASEAN member countries should exchange their views and seek appropriate solutions to the emerging challenges.

By the same token, defense ministers of ASEAN countries highly valued recent positive developments in defense cooperation within ASEAN and between ASEAN and its partners, with practical good results, contributing significantly to building and developing the ASEAN Community. Remarkable outcomes include the successful organization of three field exercises with combined contents on maritime security and anti-terrorism; mine action and peacekeeping; humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and military medicine. Participating defense ministers at the meeting underscored that ASEAN’s unity, solidarity and central role in regional cooperation mechanisms are vital for the bloc’s development. They also focused discussion on major regional security challenges, such as cyber security, East Sea (South China Sea) issue and terrorism. 

Speaking at the meeting, Vietnamese Defense Minister, General Ngo Xuan Lich, said, dialogues for peace, stability and development are the main trend in relations between regional countries. This outcome stemmed from ASEAN’s unity and solidarity as well as its operation based on its principle of unanimity.

General Lich held that the region may have to see complex developments, threatening regional peace and stability and causing concern to the international community.

ASEAN and ADMM leaders have continually repeated the need to maintain a peaceful and stable environment in the region, and underscored that all disputes must be solved by peaceful means on the basis of international law. 

General Lich stated that one of the major issues attracting much concern from the region is maritime security, safety and freedom in the East Sea, saying “To deal with the issue, as Vietnam has repeated many times, I once again emphasize that we [ASEAN member countries] with unity and unanimity principle should further strengthen internal cooperation and continue bolstering effective cooperation with countries outside ASEAN, particularly China and the USA.”

General Lich at the meeting

He also proposed directions for defense cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, including the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+).

According to him, this mechanism has demonstrated its effectiveness since several other countries expressed their wish to participate in the mechanism.

Cooperation within the framework of ADMM+ will be more effective when the ASEAN member countries and its partners respect and fully execute the ASEAN Charter, especially ASEAN’s regulation on dialogue, he said, “This also requires ASEAN member countries as well as its dialogue partners to promote unity, unanimity and high sense of responsibility for their actions, in an effort to maintain regional peace, stability and security.”

ADMM+ is an open mechanism and a strategic balance, requiring ASEAN and its member countries to be neutral. ASEAN’s partners should respect the identities of each ASEAN member and the level of each ASEAN member’s relations to them, independence and self-determination of every ASEAN member country and ASEAN’s central role, as well as should contribute to the bloc’s unity and solidarity.

At the ADMM Retreat, ASEAN defense ministers highly appreciated Laos’ role as the ASEAN Chair, highlighting the successes in its organizing defense and military meetings in 2016, which has contributed significantly to maintaining ASEAN’s unity and unanimity as well as exchanging views on issues of common concern.

At the end of the meeting, delegates listened to a presentation and watched equipment for the first phase of the direct communication line within the framework of ADMM, and witnessed the hand-over ceremony of the ADMM Chair to the Philippines.

* The Unofficial ASEAN-Japan Defense Ministers’ Meeting with the participation of all 10 ASEAN member countries’ defense ministers and Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada took place on November 16 afternoon in Vientiane.

At the meeting, ASEAN defense ministers noted that relations and cooperation between ASEAN and Japan have been expanded in many areas over the past time. They also highly valued Japan’s support and assistance for ASEAN, hoping that Japan via its cooperation with the bloc continues to contribute to regional peace, stability and security.

General Lich held that, along with its effort, ASEAN needs support and contribution of its partners to develop the ASEAN Community. He said, “We [ASEAN countries] hope that Japan with its large capacity will further support the ASEAN Community in maintaining ASEAN’s central role in regional security mechanisms, narrowing the development gap between ASEAN countries and between ASEAN and other regions in the world, and improving capacities of ASEAN countries to respond to security challenges of all kinds.”

Addressing the meeting, Ms. Tomomi Inada affirmed that Japan advocates the central role of ASEAN, and wants to boost defense cooperation with ASEAN in a practical and effective manner with a focus on humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, search and rescue, and maritime security for peace and stability in the region.

Later on the afternoon, Lao Party General Secretary and President Bounnhang Volachith hosted a reception for heads of the participating delegations in the ADMM Retreat. The host highly appreciated the contributions of delegations to the success of the event, and noted that, in the current context with unpredictable changes, ASEAN should heighten unity, solidarity and unanimity so as to tackle emerging security challenges effectively and on time.

The Vietnamese Defense Minister and his Lao counterpart also had a bilateral meeting.

The visiting defense minister thanked the Lao Defense Ministry for the warm reception of the Vietnamese delegation. General Lich also extended congratulations to the Lao Defense Ministry on their successful organization of defense and military events in 2016.

The host thanked Vietnam for its large support for Laos in executing its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2016.

General Lich reconfirmed that Vietnam always pursues its consistent policy: Continuously attaching importance to cementing and expanding the special unity and friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Laos.

The two defense ministers expressed pleasure at good outcomes of bilateral defense cooperation over the past time, contributing to maintaining political stability and security of each country, boosting friendship and the Vietnam-Laos relationship.

They agreed that the two sides continue to expand defense cooperation in a practical and effective manner in the time to come, bringing benefits to both countries and contributing to regional peace and stability.

They also shared the same view that the two sides should better implement the information dissemination and education among young people and military troops on the bilateral traditional friendly relations, special unity and comprehensive cooperation between the two peoples and armies.

Reported by Bao Trung from Vientiane, Laos

Translated by Thu Nguyen

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