The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today addressing the 3rd ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-plus) at Kuala Lumpur.
He expressed India’s hope that all parties to the disputes in the South China Sea region will abide by the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, ensure its effective implementation and work together to ensure a peaceful resolution of disputes.
The situation in the South China Sea and recent developments there have attracted interest and concern. This is natural since freedom of navigation in international waters, the right of passage and overflight, unimpeded commerce and access to resources in accordance with recognized principles of international law including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, are of concern to all of us, he stated.
He also hoped that the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea would be concluded at an early date by consensus.
In a short span of time since its foundation in 2010, the ADMM-Plus has emerged as a compact and useful forum for discussing security issues among officials of the Ministries of Defence of our region.
ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM)
The ASEAN Security Community (ASC) Plan of Action, adopted at the 10th ASEAN Summit, held in Vientiane on 29 November 2004, stipulates that ASEAN shall work towards the convening of an annual ADMM. Against this background, the Inaugural meeting of the ADMM was held in Kuala Lumpur on 9 May 2006.
The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. The ADMM aims to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges as well as enhancement of transparency and openness.
ADMM-Plus
Consistent with the ADMM guiding principles of open and outward looking, the 2ndADMM in Singapore in 2007 adopted the Concept Paper to establish the ADMM-Plus.The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.
The Inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, on 12 October 2010.
The 2nd ADMM-Plus was convened in Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, on 29 August 2013.
The 3rd ADMM-Plus was convened in Malaysia in 2015.
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