VietNamNet Bridge – ASEAN Defense Ministers on May 20 in Nay Pyi Taw passed a three-year working program (2014-2016) and a joint statement on “Defense cooperation towards community and prosperity”.

ASEAN Defense Ministers on May 20 in Nay Pyi Taw passed a joint statement on “Defense cooperation towards community and prosperity”

The Vietnamese high-ranking military delegation was led by Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh.

The VNA was quoted as saying that the joint statement voiced support to the outcomes of the 24 th ASEAN Summit and the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration on ASEAN Community building in 2015, which call on cooperation in ensuring the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), compliance of commonly recognized principles of international laws and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

They urged all parties to practice self-restraint without using force or conducting activities that may intensify tensions, while highlighting the need to early reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) as stipulated in the ASEAN Foreign Ministers on ASEAN's Six-Point Principles on the East Sea.

In the wake of fresh developments in the East Sea that caught public concerns, all heads of delegations agreed to bring the issue to the informal meeting between the ASEAN Defense Ministers and the Chinese Defense Minister on the sidelines of the 8th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-8).

They hoped that the tension in the East Sea must be resolved by peaceful solutions on the basis of international laws including the UNCLOS and DOC which China had signed with ASEAN.

They reaffirmed ASEAN’s commitments to defense cooperation towards the formation of an ASEAN Community in 2015, hailing trust- building measures via the establishment of regular and hot lines, commitments to non-use of force among ASEAN member states.

ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh said that at the 24th ASEAN Summit and related meetings recently hosted in Myanmar, ASEAN leaders reiterated the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea. They expressed deep concerns over the recent cases which caused tensions in the waters area and highlighted the necessity of early finalizing the COC. Earlier, ASEAN FMs also issued a joint declaration on the East Sea issue.

Source: VGP