Singapore (VNA) – A special point of the ongoing 18th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore is that the interest of the participatingcountries has become more practical, which raises the voice of small countriesclearer, a high-ranking defence official has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, DeputyDefence Minister, Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh also held that small countriesnow participate in the dialogue with an equal footing and voice compared tomajor powers, describing this as a new and progressive point in this forum.

He further pointed out that the number of participants and contentsof the dialogue is very large, and this manifests two aspects, namely more andmore countries are interested in security in Asia-Pacific and security in theregion is of great interest but many issues are emerging here.

According to the official, the focus of attention ofparticipating countries now is the relations among the large powers, how tosolve the many disputes surfacing in the region, and the need for trans-nationalcooperation to solve the new security issues.

Regarding the speech by host Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong whichstresses the role of small countries in multilateral mechanisms as well asaffirms the central role of ASEAN in the regional security structure, DeputyMinister Vinh stressed that the centrality of the ASEAN in multilateral cooperationin the region is the decisive factor of the future of stability and developmentof Asia-the Pacific in general and Southeast Asia in particular.

However, this is also a challenge now, as there is a questionwhether that centrality exists. It stems from the question whether ASEAN has acommon voice and solidarity in face of the regional major issue.

Vinh also described Lee’s speech as very significant as ittouched upon a long period in which the region has experienced many ups anddowns on the way to peace and stability but not sustainable like today.-VNA