3rd ASEAN Defense Minister’s Meeting held at Royal Cliff Beach Resort Pattaya

On February 26, ASEAN members from 10 countries which are, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand together with the chairman General Prawit Wongsuwon Minister of Defence all gathered together for the 3rd ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting (3rd ADMM). General Prawit Wongsuwon Minister of Defence said, “The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and sign the 3rd ADMM Joint Declaration on Strengthening ASEAN Defence Establishment to Meet the Challenges of Non-Traditional Security Threats. We have captured three key documents, which are The Concept Paper on the Use of ASEAN Military Assets and Capacities in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), The Concept Paper on ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus): Principles for Membership, and The Concept Paper on ASEAN Defence Establishment and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security”.

The Concept Paper on the Use of ASEAN Military Assets and Capacities in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) aims at accelerating the ASEAN militaries’ operational effectives in the HADR, while The Concept Paper on ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus): Principles for Membership focuses on building the ADMM-Concept Paper that was adopted from the 2nd ADMM which lays out the principles for membership to the ADMM-Plus process. The final document, The Concept Paper on ASEAN Defence Establishment and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security outlines the framework and guidelines for the ASEAN defence establishments’ engagement with

the CSOs on non-traditional security issues.

Minister Surin Pitsuwan ASEAN Secretary added, “The objective of this meeting is to also get cooperation of find solutions from the ASEAN members concerning invasion between countries, drug issues, and other contagious health problems. Our aim is to work together to find ways to create peace and reduce these matters”.

All in all, The 3rd ASEAN Defense Minister’s Meeting (3rd ADMM) was a closed meeting. All of the reporters were to remain outside while the meeting was held and wait for the after-meeting press conference. The general purpose of the meeting though was to basically future integrate the efforts for establishing a people-oriented ASEAN Community by 2015 and also to reiterate the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s central role in the regional processes.