VNA/VNS (Hanoi)
JAKARTA — The fifth ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM-5) ended in Jakarta yesterday.
The meeting issued a joint declaration calling for increased security-national defence co-operation among ASEAN members to ensure and boost regional peace and stability, advancing towards an ASEAN Community by 2015, with one of the most three important pillars being security-political community.
The declaration affirmed freedom of navigation in the East Sea in accordance with international laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It also reiterated ASEAN member states' commitment to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea, looking towards the approval of the Code of Conduct to further promote peace and stability in the region.
The ministers agreed to establish a joint committee to coordinate the use of ASEAN military assets for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. They agreed with three proposals on the ADMM working plan between 2011 and 2013, the establishment of an ASEAN peacekeeping centre network and a mechanism for ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro affirmed the importance of increasing ADMM role in ASEAN, saying that ADMM is also a forum to boost bilateral co-operation.
The positive development of the forum has improved the transparency, mutual trust and respect among ASEAN members, which is considered as an important premise for increased ASEAN defence co-operation in the future.
Yusgiantoro added that ASEAN should maintain its centrality in developing the ADMM Plus forum with such partners as the US, Russia, India, China, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia to strengthen cooperation, ensure regional security and stability and affirm the effectiveness of joint actions in the fight against piracy, smuggling and terrorism in order to consolidate international community's trust in ASEAN.
He also stressed the necessity of increasing practical co-operation among ASEAN member states to cope with non-traditional security issues and conflicts in the region.
Apart from bilateral talks between Thailand and Cambodia's Defence Minister, and the tripartite meeting between Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia Defence Ministers on Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, ADMM-5 also discussed the issue, and agreed that solutions needed to be implemented via peaceful negotiation.
VN, Indonesia ties
Viet Nam and Indonesia agreed to further boost defence and security co-operation during their defence ministers' talks in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Vietnamese Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh and his Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro agreed to soon implement the memorandum understanding on defence co-operation signed in October 2010.
General Thanh, who paid an official visit to Indonesia where he also attended ADMM-5, stressed that naval co-operation would lead the two countries' defence co-operation, and invited Indonesian naval experts to visit Viet Nam to discuss the launch of joint patrols and set up a liaison channel between the two navies.
He expressed his hope that naval forces of the two countries would sign an agreement on the field this year.
Yusgiantoro agreed with Thanh's viewpoints and affirmed that Indonesia would set up a working group in charge and send the Deputy Naval Commander to work with the Vietnamese Navy on the issue.
On co-operation at multilateral forums, Thanh affirmed that Viet Nam had always supported Indonesia as the ASEAN Chair, saying Indonesia's successes were of the whole bloc, including Viet Nam.
On the border dispute between Cambodia and Thai, the two sides shared the same view that it was unfortunate for the process of building the ASEAN Political and Security Community, affecting the bloc's internal connectivity and solidarity.
Thanh also said that as a member of ASEAN, Viet Nam had hailed the two countries' ceasefire agreement.
He expressed his wish that no conflict recurrence would take place and the two countries would continue implementing the commitments reached at the informal meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Jakarta on February 22, 2011.
Viet Nam had supported ASEAN in playing its role in assisting Cambodia and Thailand to settle those disputes peacefully and backed Indonesia in the role as the ASEAN Chair to proceed efforts and assistance on the basis of abiding by fundamental principles of the ASEAN Charter, especially consultation and consensus, Thanh said.
Viet Nam wished that Indonesia, as the ASEAN Chair, would soon send observers to help solve border disputes between Cambodia and Thailand and continue to contribute actively to the process, he added.
The Indonesian Minister said Indonesia was willing to send observers to the disputed area when gaining an agreement from Cambodia and Thailand. He agreed that ASEAN problems must be solved on the grounds of ASEAN's principles and on the basis of the ASEAN Charter.
Regarding the East Sea issue, Thanh said that despite disputes over sovereignty in coastal areas and in the waters, all concerned countries shared a common aspiration of maintaining peace and stability for co-operation and mutual development.
He reiterated Viet Nam's viewpoint that disputes must be handled by peaceful measures and based on international laws, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and that ASEAN member countries and China need to fully observe the Declaration on Conducts of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), which was signed by ASEAN and China in Cambodia in 2002. ASEAN and China should move to compile the Code of Conducts in the East Sea (COC)."
Yusgiantoro stated that Indonesia wishes that the East Sea would be stable with security and maritime freedom ensured.
He said his country included the issue on the draft joint declaration of ADMM-5 and expected the concerned parties would have their COC in the future.
The same day, Vietnamese military officers paid a courtesy visit to Indonesian Vice President Boediono.
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