JAKARTA - Discussions on difficult issues at an annual meeting between Asean defence ministers and their counterparts from eight partner nations were frank, and progress was made due to how different views were aired, said Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.
At the 10th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting – Plus (ADMM-Plus) in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Thursday, which involved the grouping’s partners like the United States, China and Russia, Dr Ng and other ministers stressed the importance of cooperation to address global security issues.
In a media statement after the meeting, Dr Ng underscored the importance of the ADMM-Plus to prevent conflicts and to address new and emerging challenges, such as climate change.
Participants of the meeting “did not seek to sweep troubled spots under the carpet as if they did not exist”, said Dr Ng, adding that they were instead given a platform to air their differences and talk about them and make progress on these “difficult issues”.
Indonesian Defence Minister and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto extolled the ADMM-Plus in his opening remarks, saying that it should always be a platform to enhance security collaboration and contribution between its participants.
“Indonesia is of the view that the region’s multiple security issues, spanning from both traditional and non-traditional threats, can only be solved by extensive open and inclusive global collaboration,” he said.
Among those who attended the event were US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, China’s deputy chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission Jing Jianfeng, and Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.
Representatives from Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea were also present.
On Wednesday, Asean defence ministers adopted an agreement that urged “all parties concerned” to cease violence in Myanmar and for the “full implementation” of the Asean peace plans that the bloc drew up with the junta in 2021 following a coup.
The grouping has barred Myanmar’s ruling junta from key meetings due to its failure to implement the plans and end the violence that has gripped the country since it seized power.
The ministers had also underscored the need to maintain peace in the South China Sea, where China and four Asean countries – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – have overlapping claims.
They called for “self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability”, and reiterated a commitment to implement the code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, which Asean and China had agreed to create in 2002.
COC negotiations had stalled for various reasons, most recently when the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to in-person meetings.
Referring to discussions at the forum, Dr Ng said: “There was a spotlight shone on the incidents in the South China Sea – so-called risky behaviour by some forces, as well as accusations by countries that there was instigation and that some of these events were provoked.”
The war between Russia and Ukraine came up as well, and Dr Ng said that very strong statements were made on either side, with some participants condemning the unlawful invasion even as the Russians rebutted with their own version of why the series of events had occurred.
Other geopolitical hot spots were touched on, and Dr Ng said this included the Korean peninsula and the situation in Gaza.
Exchanges between the officials were “real” and differences were aired, which the minister said meant that progress was made.
“If there was a lack of agreement, it’s because many of these issues are protracted. But all of us defence chiefs agreed that at least the ADMM-Plus serves as a forum... not only for Asean ministers, but with eight nation partners, to be able to talk about and try to make progress in these difficult issues,” said Dr Ng.
