Delegates at the 14th ASEAN Security Policy Conference (Source: VNA) The Vietnamesedelegation to the event is led by Sen. Lieut. Gen. Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chiefof the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army.
Presenting Vietnam’s views, Minh said theoverall regional situation remains peaceful and stable, but there have beenrapid, complex developments along with potential threats. He cited as examplethe situation in Northeast Asia, natural disaster, piracy, terrorism anddisputes in the East Sea.
The Vietnamese head delegate said the East Seaissue is a complicated matter that caused grave concern for ASEAN and theinternational community.
He reiterated Vietnam’s stance that the East Sea disputesshould be addressed by peaceful measures on the basis of international law and respectfor diplomatic and legal processes, along with the full and effectiveimplementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea(DOC) and efforts to soon reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
Regardingpiracy in the region, Vietnam calls on regional countries to uphold their senseof responsibility and join efforts to fight piracy via coordination mechanisms,the sharing of information and experience, and joint patrols, Minh said.
Vietnam also shares the concern of countriesamidst the dangerous spread of terrorism and stands ready to closely cooperatewith them to effectively handle this security challenge, he noted.
Minh noted that ASEAN cooperation through suchmechanisms as ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), ADMM , ARF and East-AsiaSummit (EAS) continues to prove its role in promoting defence-security cooperationin the region, control conflicts and build trust, especially since the officiallaunch of the ASEAN Community.
The officer called on the regional countries tostep up pragmatic bilateral defence collaboration, considering this afoundation for more efficient multilateral defence and security cooperation.
Apart from terrorism and the East Seaissue, delegates at the event also exchanged views on other emerging problemslike tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
To effectively deal with these cross-bordersecurity challenges, they underlined the need for regional countries to furtherenhance their pragmatic cooperation by actively participating in ASEAN-ledmechanisms like ADMM , ARF and EAS.
The ASPC is ahigh-level forum for defence cooperation in the framework of the ARF, whosemembership comprises one organisation, ten ASEAN countries, ASEAN’s ten dialogue partners (Australia, Canada,China, India, the EU, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and theUS) along with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste, and one observer (Papua New Guinea).-VNA
VNA
