Fact Sheet: Joint Declaration of the ASEAN Defence Ministers on Defence Cooperation towards Peaceful and Prosperous ASEAN Community

WE, the Defence Ministers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office of Brunei Darussalam, gathered in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on 20 May 2014 for the Eighth ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (hereinafter referred to as "ADMM");

ADHERING with full commitments to the principles and purposes enshrined in the ASEAN Charter;

RECALLING the establishment of the ADMM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in May 2006, as a monumental milestone for the evolution of ASEAN security and defence cooperation in contributing towards building the ASEAN Political Security Community;

RECALLING the Bali Declaration of ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations (Bali Concord III) in 2011, which calls for further reinforcement in strengthening the ASEAN Community in line with the ASEAN Charter, in which the fundamental principles, values, and norms are stipulated;

BEARING IN MIND the need for ASEAN Member States to respond effectively to regional security challenges in accordance with the principles of comprehensive security as stated in the ASEAN Charter;

GUIDED by the fundamental principles enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) and the ASEAN Charter, including the renunciation of the threat of use of force and exercise of self-restraint, mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as upholding international law;

INSPIRED by and united with close cooperation and collaboration to implement as guided in the ASEAN Community Blueprints to the way of ASEAN Community by 2015 with the view of promoting a people-oriented ASEAN in which all ASEAN Member States are to share and benefit from each other;

EXPRESSING satisfaction with the positive results of the Eighth ADMM, which was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on 20 May 2014 under the theme "Defence Cooperation Towards Peaceful and Prosperous ASEAN Community" in keeping with the goals of a cohesive, peaceful and resilient region with shared responsibility for comprehensive security;

DETERMINED to strengthen a dynamic, cohesive, resilient and integrated ASEAN Community and reaffirming the ADMM's role as the highest ministerial defence and security consultative and cooperative mechanism within ASEAN that promotes ASEAN norms of dialogue and consensus-based decision making and adhering to the established ASEAN protocols and practices;

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION the significant progress which has been made in the area of defence and security cooperation since the ADMM was established in 2006;

RECOGNISING the existing civil-military cooperation that plays a very important role and encouraging them to enhance interoperability in addressing non-traditional security challenges;

EMPHASISING the important role of the ADMM to contribute to ASEAN's efforts in maintaining its unity and solidarity in order to continue to play its central role in the regional architecture;

REAFFIRMING the ASEAN centrality in the evolving regional security architecture and ASEAN's role as the primary driving force in cooperating and collaborating with the Plus countries to deal with security issues and non-traditional threats;

WELCOMING the outcomes of the Second ADMM-Plus held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, on 29 August 2013, which encourages the establishment of practical measures to reduce vulnerability to miscalculations and to avoid misunderstanding and undesirable incidents at sea;

REAFFIRMING the strategic importance of the ADMM-Plus as a premier forum for strategic dialogue in defence and security issues among ASEAN and the Plus countries;

COMMENDING the remarkable achievements of the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Groups in the five  priority areas of cooperation, namely, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), Maritime Security, Peacekeeping Operations, Military Medicine, and Counter Terrorism;

COMMENDING the notable achievements of the ASEAN militaries in building trust and confidence through a number of meetings and activities, while noting with satisfaction the results of the 11th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM), which was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on 5 March 2014;

OBSERVING the complex and fast changing regional security environment and the devastating effects of natural disasters;

SUPPORTING the outcomes of the 24th ASEAN Summit and the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration on Realisation of the ASEAN Community by 2015, which calls for the strengthening of cooperation for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), especially calling on all parties to exercise self-restraint and non-use of force, as well as refrain from taking actions that would further escalate tension and to work towards an early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in South China Sea (COC) as reflected in the ASEAN's Six Point Principles on the South China Sea and welcoming confidence-building measures of communication lines and hotlines and non-use of force commitments among ASEAN Member States that will promote further peace and stability;

ACKNOWLEDGING the solidarity of all ASEAN Member States as reflected by the concerted efforts in the search and rescue mission of the missing airplane flight MH370 and recognising the unwavering support from all Member States in this new phase of this unprecedented search.

DO HEREBY DECLARE TO:

1.         Adopt the ADMM Three-Year Work Programme 2014-2016, which will serve as a guide in prioritising activities of the ADMM, while noting with satisfaction the achievements of the Three-Year Work Programme 2011-2013;

2.         Adopt the Concept Paper on Establishing a Direct Communications Link in the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Process, which will provide a permanent, rapid, reliable and confidential means by which any two ASEAN Defence Ministers may communicate with each other to arrive at mutual decisions in handling crisis or emergency situations, in particular related to maritime security;

3.         Adopt the Additional Protocol to the Concept Papers for the Establishment of an ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus, which will refine and clarify the working mechanisms and procedures of the ADMM and the ADMM-Plus;

4.         Acknowledge the adoption  of the Terms of Reference for Consultative Group of ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration, which could start the implementation of collaboration of activities;

5.         Enhance practical cooperation in non-traditional and transnational security concerns and develop coordination mechanisms for military participation in the conduct of combined trainings and exercises in HADR, emergency response operations, search and rescue missions, post-crisis management and rehabilitation, as emphasised by the ADMM Three-Year Work Programme;

6.         Deepen friendly ties between ASEAN and the Plus countries on strategic as well as defence and security issues affecting the region, which contribute to the promotion of regional peace and security;

7.         Welcome the adoption of the new work plans of the six ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Groups that will strengthen practical cooperation under the ADMM-Plus and look forward to the successful implementation of the work plans;

8.         Increase mutual understanding among ASEAN defence establishments;

9.         Deepen regular consultations on defence matters and work together to counter threats and challenges to regional peace;

10.      Facilitate interactions between the defence and military officials of ASEAN Member States and develop practical cooperation in the field of defence and security by enhancing confidence-building measures through increased opportunities for exchanges and interactions;

11.      Explore possibility for practical cooperation on traditional security concerns;

12.      Welcome the significant achievements of the inaugural ADMM-Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine Exercise (ADMM-Plus HADR and MM Ex) in Brunei Darussalam in June 2013, the ADMM-Plus Counter Terrorism Exercise (CTX) in Indonesia in September 2013, the ADMM-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (FTX) in Australia in October 2013 and ADMM-Plus Table-Top Exercise (TTX) on Peacekeeping Operations in the Philippines in February 2014, as landmark cooperation amongst defence forces of ASEAN Member States and the Plus countries;

13.      Welcome Malaysia's Chairmanship of ASEAN and its hosting of the 9th ADMM and the 3rd ADMM-Plus in 2015.

Done at Nay Pyi Taw, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, this Twentieth Day of May in the Year Two Thousand and Fourteen, in a single original copy in the English Language.

For Brunei Darussalam:

PEHIN DATU SINGAMANTERI COLONEL (RTD) DATO SERI SETIA (DR) HAJI MOHAMMAD YASMIN Bin HAJI UMAR

Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office

For the Kingdom of Cambodia:

GENERAL TEA BANH

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense

For the Republic of Indonesia:

DR. PURNOMO YUSGIANTORO

Minister of Defence

For the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic: 

For Malaysia:

DATO’ SERI HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN

Minister of Defence

For the Republic of the Union of Myanmar:

LIEUTENANT GENERAL WAI LWIN

Union Minister for Defence

For the Republic of the Philippines: 

VOLTAIRE T. GAZMIN

Secretary of National Defense

For the Republic of Singapore:

DR. NG ENG HEN

Minister for Defence

For the Kingdom of Thailand:

For the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:

GENERAL PHUNG QUANG THANH

Minister of National Defence

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