VietNamNet Bridge - The navy of the 10 ASEAN member states and 8 countries (U.S., Japan, China, Russia, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) will participate in a joint exercise in the East Sea next year.

The information was provided by the Indonesian Navy last week. The exercise called "Komodo multilateral exercise 2014" is scheduled for April 2014--offshore Natuna and Anambas Islands amid the Malaysia peninsular and Borneo Island.

The statement by the Indonesian Navy emphasized that the exercise will focus on the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.

The host country Indonesia will deploy 12 vessels to serve in the drill. The participating ASEAN countries include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Thai An