Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy Minister of Defence Sen. Lt.Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh on May 15 suggested ASEAN countries enhance theirconnectivity with ASEAN+3  nations and other partners to cope with outbreaks ofdisease.

He made the proposal while chairing the teleconferenced ASEANDefence Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM), during which participants discussedthe bloc’s cooperation in COVID-19 prevention and control, shared theexperience of ASEAN militaries in the task, devised cooperative measures fordealing with future epidemics, exchanged viewpoints on the global and regionalsituation amid the coronavirus outbreak and in the post-COVID-19 period, andspoke about directions for ASEAN defence cooperation in the time ahead.

Vinh told the teleconference that he highly values the rapidand timely response from the ASEAN Centre of Military Medicine (ACMM), as itorganised an online table-top exercise (TTX) on COVID-19 response that met allmember states’ needs and also attracted attention from partner countries.

It is necessary to encourage ASEAN connectivity with ASEANnations and other partners in the time to come, increase the sharing ofmilitary medicine experience in responding to epidemics, and consider upgradingthe ACMM website to a common portal where member nations can exchangeexperience and good practice, he noted.

He also proposed that Brunei and Australia, which areco-chairing the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus Experts’ WorkingGroup on Military Medicine between 2020 and 2023, turn the TTX into an annualactivity carried out by the working group and the ACMM.

Vietnam is ready to host the first TTX to connect jointefforts by the two co-chairing countries and the ACMM, Vinh stated.

Officials at the meeting shared a view that the online ADSOMwas a suitable occasion for member countries to share the experience of defenceministries in contributing to their respective governments’ actions against theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Vinh said that when the coronavirus first broke out,Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence actively joined Government efforts to preventand control the disease, such as using military bases as quarantine facilities,disinfecting COVID-19 clusters, developing test kits, and monitoring borderareas.

The Ministry has also been actively boosting bilateralcooperation with Laos, Cambodia, China, Russia, Myanmar, and Cuba to exchangeexperience and assist each other in this regard, he explained.

Participants at the meeting said the COVID-19 pandemic hasaffected political and diplomatic relations between countries around the world.Given this context, the ADMM Retreat in Hanoi last February issued a jointstatement on defence cooperation against disease outbreaks, in which defenceministers expressed their resolve to remain united to overcome the pandemic forthe sake of the ASEAN people.

Vinh also pointed out that despite the threats caused byCOVID-19, security hotspots keep appearing around the world and riskingconflict. Particularly, new and more complex developments have occurred in theEast Sea recently. If relevant parties do not remain calm, exerciseself-restraint, or enhance cooperation to address disagreements, tensions couldescalate and change the nature of disputes, which wouldnot benefit regional peace and stability, he emphasised.

Valuing the efforts of defence ministries to join othersectors to bolster ASEAN’s collective capability in responding to COVID-19,Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN Hoang Anh Tuan expressed his belief that thebloc will keep the region safe in the face of COVID-19 while remainingresilient to factors causing instability./.