Vietnam has proposed a number of measures to increase cooperation among regional armies at the 8th ASEAN Chief of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM) in Jakarta on March 31.

At the meeting, themed “Synergising the Role of ASEAN Military in Response to Current Regional Challenges, Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Ba Ty said it was necessary to build up common awareness of threats and challenges in the region by increasing  exchange among armies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He proposed hotlines and joint patrols between navies to cope with maritime security challenges, build and perfect cooperation mechanism between regional armies, especially in search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and relief in natural disasters, as well as establishing emergency rapid response forces.

Also at the meeting, Deputy Minister Ty stressed maritime security and the situation on the East Sea, which drew region and international concern, saying that the East Sea was associated with economic, commercial, defence and security benefits of many countries in and out the region.

However, he also said disputes over sovereignty on the sea have not been solved yet, and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC) has not been observed and implemented in a serious manner by concerned parties.

Vietnam is always consistent in its policy of solving disputes in the East Sea through peace negotiations based on international laws, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the spirit of DOC while continuing to seek solutions to ensure long-lasting peace and stability, he affirmed.

He stressed the need for regional benefited countries’ cooperation, especially in sharing responsibility to cope with non-traditional security to solve existing security issues on the East Sea, contributing to fully implementing the DOC and preventing any activity to make the situation complicated or any manoeuvre with the purpose of showing military strength or threatening other countries.

Representatives from Malaysia , Singapore and the host Indonesia also delivered reports to share views on the East Sea./.