Singapore (VNA) – The 25th ASEANRegional Forum (ARF) took place in Singapore on August 4 with the participationof foreign ministers from 26 countries and the European Union (EU)’srepresentative.

The participants came from 10 member countriesof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 10 dialogue partners(Australia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic ofKorea, Russia, and the US), along with Papua New Guinea, the DemocraticPeople’s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Bangladesh and SriLanka.

Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister PhamBinh Minh led the Vietnamese delegation to the event.

The ministers shared the view that after 25years of development, the ARF has continued to affirm its role as one of thekey forums for dialogue and cooperation in politics-security, building trust,and implementing preventive diplomacy in the region.

They noted that the ARF needs to persist in theagreed basic principles, including decision making by consensus, moving at apace comfortable to all members and respecting the ASEAN’s central role. TheARF members should continue carrying out trust building measures in tandem withpreventive diplomacy while fully and effectively realising the Hanoi Plan ofAction to Implement the ARF Vision Statement 2020 through practical activitiesto effectively cope with security challenges which are becoming more and morecomplex in the region.

Additionally, the ARF should enhancecoordination with other security-defence cooperation frameworks and mechanismsof the ASEAN and the region, and maintain relations with research agencies tomake use of their consultancy.

At the forum, the ministers agreed to adopt theARF statement on disaster relief cooperation, the list of the ARF’s activitiesin 2018 and 2019, and the ARF’s work plans on maritime security and disasterrelief in 2018-2020.

Discussing the regional and global situation,they underscored the importance of a rule-based international order and therole of multilateral organisations, considering these as pillars ofinternational peace, stability and development.

The ministers welcomed the recent progress inregional issues and called on relevant parties to fully and seriously implementthe reached agreements to ensure sustainable peace and stability on the KoreanPeninsula.

The ministers also voiced concerns aboutemerging security challenges, including terrorism, trans-national crimes,marine security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters. They agreed tostrengthen cooperation within the framework of the ARF and other regionalmechanisms to better cope with these challenges.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the ministersreaffirmed the significance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability,and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

Many of them voiced concerns over activities which have eroded trust, includingmilitarisation, increased tension and may undermine peace, security, andstability in the region. Thus, the ministers laid stress on the restraint andsettlement of disputes based on international laws and the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) as well as respect of the diplomaticprogress and legal procedures.

They said that concerned parties must not use or threaten to use force, and notcarry out militarisation activities, while fully and effectively implementingthe Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towardsreaching an effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

At the event, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh lauded the ARF’s role andcontributions in the past time, including the promotion of dialogues, andcooperation to build trust and respond to security challenges.

He recommended the ARF to continue focusing on effectively implementing theHanoi Plan of Action and other agreed plans. More reforms in the ARF’soperations are needed to respond to regional and global changes, Minh said.

Expressing his concern over the activities which escalate tension in the EastSea, erode trust and undermine regional and global peace, Minh said that the involvedparties must not have actions that further complicate the situation and tacklethe disputes by peaceful measures based on international laws and the UNCLOS1982.

Also, he informed Vietnam’s initiatives to host an ARF workshop on enhancingcooperation among law enforcement forces at sea, and another seminar onapplying  the UNCLOS 1982 and internationallegal tools to cope with marine challenges.–VNA