Fact Sheet: Joint Declaration of the ASEAN Defence Ministers on Defence Cooperation to Strengthen Solidarity for a Harmonised Security

1.  The Sixteenth ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (hereinafter referred to as "ADMM") was convened on 22 June 2022 in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia;

2.  RECOGNISING the growing challenges posed by geopolitical and geostrategic shifts in the region, compounded by complex traditional and non-traditional security challenges, social and economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other transboundary issues, including climate change;

3.  REAFFIRMING the importance of continuity and sustainability in ASEAN Community-building efforts and commitment to further promoting amicable partnerships for peace, stability, and development, within ASEAN and with the international community;

4.  APPLAUDING the individual and collaborative efforts of ASEAN Member States towards addressing transboundary security challenges as well as the important role played by respective defence forces in supporting the whole-of-government approaches to addressing the communicable and infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic;

5.  ACKNOWLEDGING the dire challenges of new variants of the COVID-19 pandemic and their impacts on public health, livelihoods, and economic development across the region; and RECOGNISING the need to deepen defence collaboration in contributing towards tackling cross-border pandemic challenges;

6.  NOTING that while facing the challenges of the COVID- 19 pandemic, other non-traditional security issues such as terrorism, chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) threats, cyber security, maritime security, among others, still present significant risk to the security and stability of the region;

7.  REAFFIRMING our adherence to the fundamental principles and purposes enshrined in the ASEAN Charter and Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in strengthening ASEAN Centrality and unity and upholding a rules-based regional order anchored in international law for the benefit of the people; as well as the central role of ASEAN as the primary driving force in enhancing defence and security cooperation and confidence building measures with its external partners with the common objective to maintain peace, security and prosperity in an open, transparent and inclusive regional architecture;

8.  REITERATING our joint efforts and commitment to enhancing strategic dialogue and practical defence cooperation, through the ADMM and the ADMM-Plus as the region's key security architecture, in response to the non-traditional security challenges; while upholding the principles of ASEAN Centrality and respect for the ASEAN principles of non-interference, sovereignty and territorial integrity, consensus-based decision-making as well as flexible, voluntary, non-binding, and resource- efficient contributions, with assets remaining under national command and control in accordance with the ASEAN Charter and TAC;

9.  SUPPORTING the role and efforts of the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar in facilitating the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus reached by the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on 24 April 2021;

10. EMPHASISING the commitment of all parties to cooperate in a constructive and peaceful manner for the South China Sea to become a sea of peace, stability, and prosperity through the full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) consistent with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), within a mutually-agreed timeline. In addition, the parties are committed in promoting maritime security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight and creating a conducive environment for the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea;

11. EXPRESSING SATISFACTION on the excellent progress made in the implementation of the ADMM initiatives in promoting harmonious partnerships for peace, stability, and prosperity in the region;

12. RECOGNISING the significant achievements of the practical cooperation of the seven Experts' Working Groups (EWGs) under the ADMM-Plus framework in maintaining trust and confidence as well as promoting interoperability among regional countries to cope with common security challenges in the region;

13. NOTING the successful conduct of the ASEAN-Russia Naval Exercise (ARNEX) in 2021, which reflects practical cooperation and the importance of trust and confidence between ASEAN and the Plus Countries;

14. COMMENDING the accomplishment in the implementation of the ADMM Three-Year Work Programme 2020-2022, which is part of our collective commitment to the realisation of the ASEAN Political- Security Community (APSC) Blueprint 2025;

DO HEREBY DECLARE TO:

1.  EMPHASISE our support of cross-pillar and cross- sectoral activities with a view to advancing cooperation among the three Pillars of the ASEAN Community by focusing on creating a conducive security environment for sustainability in all dimensions, including sustainable regional connectivity through sea, land, air and people-to- people connectivity;

2.  EMPHASISE ASEAN efforts to bring about a peaceful transition to normalcy in Myanmar through supporting the role of Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar and encouraging the effective implementation of the Five- Point Consensus reached by the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on 24 April 2021;

3.  COMMIT to the maintenance and promotion of peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea; pursuing peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS; exercising self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that could complicate or escalate the situation; reaffirming the importance of upholding international law, including 1982 UNCLOS, while enhancing mutual trust and confidence;

4.  EMPHASISE the need to maintain and promote an environment conducive to the early conclusion of an effective and substantive COC in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, while underlining the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety, thus welcoming confidence-building measures such as Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), Guidelines for Air Military Encounters (GAME), Guidelines for Maritime Interaction, and ASEAN Direct Communications Infrastructure (ADI) and other activities under the DOC framework to promote communication, mutual trust and confidence so as to reduce tensions and the risk of accidents, misunderstandings and miscalculation in the air and at sea;

5.  ADOPT the Concept Paper on Enhancing Cooperation Amongst Defence Forces of ASEAN Member States (AMS) in Cross-Border Pandemic Containment as part of the regional whole-of-government efforts to enhance regional synergy and collaboration in tackling current and future global communicable and infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic;

6.  ADOPT the Concept Paper on Enhancing Support Mechanism for ASEAN Women Peacekeepers, which provides a useful mechanism for promoting knowledge, capacity, and interaction of ASEAN women peacekeepers, in cooperation with ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Network or related fora to be ready for their deployment. This mechanism also emphasises ASEAN commitment to increasing the role of women in the UN peacekeeping efforts as well as promoting the realisation of the UN Agenda of Women, Peace, and Security and the ASEAN Leaders' Joint Statement on Promoting the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in ASEAN through the promotion of full and meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding;

7.  ADOPT the Concept Paper on the Establishment of ASEAN Defence Educational Institutions' Collaboration (ADEIC) to develop stronger linkages between ASEAN defence educational institutions and strengthen both capability and capacity of military education, as well as deepen trust and confidence among ASEAN Member States through exchange of visits, workhops, and seminars;

8.  ADOPT the Terms of Reference of the ADMM Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence, which contributes to the region's understanding of and response towards challenges and threats from the cybersecurity and information domains;

9.  WELCOME the Discussion Paper on Promoting Information-Sharing Between the Southeast Asia Maritime Law Enforcement Initiative (SEAMLEI) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in the area of Maritime Security, in order to enhance the effectiveness of regional maritime cooperation and build regional capacity to address shared challenges at sea as well as to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater dialogues and transparency with a common objective to enhance peace, stability, and security in the region;

10. WELCOME the Discussion Paper on Reflecting Military History to Promote Sustainable Peace, which highlights the importance of military history in promoting sustainable peace and stability in the region;

11. NOTE the progress of the development of the Future ADMM: A Strategy Paper that would determine the ADMM's trajectory post-2025, with a view to be adopted in 2023;

12. COMMEND the indispensible role of the ADMM as the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN, as well as the ADMM-Plus as the highest platform for ministerial defence dialogue for the ASEAN Member States and the Plus Countries, while promoting confidence-building and interoperability enhancement through the practical cooperation under its EWGs; and, the interest of ASEAN's friends and Dialogue Partners to contribute to regional security and stability;

13. WELCOME the inclusion of the Multinational Coordination Centre Standard Operating Procedures (MNCC SOP) as an annex to the Standard Operating Procedure for Regional Standby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and Emergency Response Operations (SASOP) Chapter VI.

14. WELCOME Indonesia's chairing of ASEAN and its hosting of the 17^th ADMM and the 10^th ADMM-Plus in 2023;

15. DONE on this Twenty-Second Day of June in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty-Two, in a single original copy in the English language.

More Resources

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