The third ASEAN Senior Defence Officials Meeting (ASDOM) opened in Yogyakarta , Indonesia on April 27.

The Vietnamese delegation to the event is headed by Deputy Defence Minister Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh.

Besides representatives from the ten ASEAN member countries, ASEAN dialogue partners – the US, Australia , China , India , Japan, the Republic of Korea , Russia , and New Zealand sent representatives to the meeting, which is held under the theme, “Strengthening Defence Cooperation of ASEAN and the Global Community to Face New Challenges”.

In the opening speech of the three-day meeting, Indonesian Defence Ministry Secretary General Vice Marshal Eris Hariyanto stressed that the event was aimed at stepping up defence cooperation as ASEAN`s role is increasing in response to complex global security situations.

He said ASEAN, as an entity in the Asia Pacific region, was required to play a greater role in creating and maintaining peace at both regional and international levels.

He said that on the third day of the meeting, participants will finalise the concept of cooperation in defence, covering five sectors, namely maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping operations, counter terrorism, and military medicine.

A joint declaration in these fields is expected to be approved at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) slated for May in Jakarta. /.