Hanoi (VNA) – Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu on October24 announced that Russia is ready to assist ASEAN in preventing the spread ofinternational terrorism, especially impeding the infiltration of terrorism intothe Asian-Pacific countries.
Speaking at the ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting-Plus, Shoigu affirmed “Russiais ready to provide all the necessary assistance in strengthening thecapabilities of the ASEAN member states and dialogue partners in order toeffectively counter these threat”.
Shoigu said that after seven years of establishment, the council of defenceministers of the ASEAN member states and dialogue partners has turned into aneffective mechanism for regional military cooperation.
“We have good potential for cooperation in fighting international terrorism,ensuring maritime security, humanitarian interaction, emergency management anddemining”, he stated.
He said that the joint statement on counter terrorism, adopted by Russia andASEAN in August, is an important milestone and is billed as the first steptowards joint actions to combat the influence of Islamic State (IS).
He thanked the ASEAN member states for fruitful cooperation within the council ofdefence ministers of the ASEAN member states and dialogue partners.
He also noted that there is an increasing flow of capital into Asia-Pacific tosupport terror groups, thus it is necessary for international communities tojoin hands to wipe out all of them, first of all, the IS.-VNA
