Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnamese Ministry of NationalDefence hosted an ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) via video conference on July 7, aiming to promotepractical defence cooperation between ASEAN member nations and partner countriesto effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other non-traditional securitychallenges.

Theevent was attended by Vietnamese Minister of National Defence Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich,Deputy Minister of National Defence and head of ADSOM+ Vietnam, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, heads of ADSOM+ of other ASEAN member nations, and representatives from the group’s partner countries,including Russia, China, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealandand India.

Participants shared experiences of countries’ armies in responding to the diseaseand discussed activities being implemented within the ASEAN Defence Ministers’Meeting Plus (ADMM+)framework and preparations for ADSOM and ADSOM+ that were scheduled for August in Vietnam andADMM and ADMM+ in late 2020.

In his remarks, Lich said the presence of the attendees at the event showed their strongcooperation and support for Vietnam as Chair of ASEAN 2020 as well as mechanismsin which ASEAN plays a central role.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has become a major non-traditional security challengethat negatively affects all aspect of society around the world, he said, emphasisingthe need to promote the role played by multilateral cooperation institutions andmechanisms in addressing the problem.

Sharing difficulties facing ASEAN member nations amid the pandemic, Lich expressedhis belief that with their cooperative efforts the bloc’s member states will togetherovercome these difficult times and soon bring life back to normal.

In the spirit of “Cohesive and Responsive” in ASEAN Year 2020, ASEAN and its partners have carried out manyeffective online activities.

Lich praised the efforts of ASEAN member states’ military medical forces, which jointly organisedan online drill on COVID-19 prevention and control recently, saying that thiswas a practical activity that contributes to realising the results of the ASEAN Special Summit on COVID-19 and the joint statement of the ASEAN DefenceMinisters on defence cooperation in response to the disease.

The meeting offered an opportunity for the bloc to compare notes on global and regionalsecurity situation in the context of COVID-19, thus consolidating their mutual trustand bringing them closer together in fighting the disease.

As Vietnam is Chair of ASEAN 2020, the Ministry of National Defence hasattached special importance to and gives priority to maintaining cooperation withinADMM+, Lich said, affirming that Vietnam will actively make proposals and initiativesduring the remainder of 2020.
 
He called for support and cooperation from other ASEAN nations and partner countriesto jointly implement military and defence activities amid the complex developmentsof the pandemic.

Addressing the meeting, Vinh suggested participants make proposals to contributeto the joint efforts of each country’s armies and governments to repel the disease.

The joint statement from the ASEAN DefenceMinisters on defence cooperation in response to the disease, which was approved at theADMM Retreat in February 2020, created a foundation for promoting practicaldefence cooperation among ASEAN member states, including an online medical militarydrill and an online conference of biologists, chemists, and radiologists, he said.

On the basis of cooperative activities held recently, the Vietnamese Ministry ofNational Defence plans to hold similar activities with ASEAN’s partner countries,he added.

Participants highly valued the ministry’s efforts as chair of ADMM and ADMM+, sayingit has worked actively to maintain and strengthen intra-bloc cooperation as wellas links between the group and its partner countries in the context of the pandemic.

They also emphasized the importance of defence cooperation in dealing with the diseasewhile expressing concern about unilateral actions in recent times that have affectedsecurity and stability in the region.

Thedelegates applauded the Chairman’s Statement of the 36th ASEANSummit, in which ASEAN leaders reaffirmed the importance of maintaining andpromoting pace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in andover-flight above the East Sea and recognised the benefits of having the EastSea as a sea of peace, stability and prosperity.

Theyalso underscored the importance of the full and effective implementation of theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the earlyconclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Seaconsistent with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Conventionon the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.