Fact Sheet: Joint Declaration of the ASEAN Defence Ministers on Promoting Defence Cooperation for a Dynamic 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 the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister's Office of Brunei Darussalam, gathered here in Vientiane, the Lao People's Democratic Republic on 25 May 2016 for the 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (hereinafter referred to as "ADMM");

ADHERING with full commitments to the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter that are to serve the interests of the peoples of the ASEAN Member States and to ensure they live in peace with one another and the world at large in line with the ASEAN motto "One Vision, One Identity and One Caring and Sharing Community";

WELCOMING the formal establishment of the ASEAN Community 2015 on 31 December 2015 comprising the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), which is a culmination of a five-decade long effort of community building since the signing of the Bangkok Declaration in 1967;

WELCOMING the adoption of the "ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together" especially the APSC Blueprint 2025 at the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia providing practical directions for defence capacity building and cooperation between and amongst the ASEAN Member States and the Plus countries in responding to existing and future challenges, including non-traditional security issues, particularly transnational crimes and transboundary challenges in an effective and timely manner;

REAFFIRMING ASEAN's role and its centrality as a key driving force in defence and security cooperation with the Plus countries in an open, transparent and inclusive architecture;

ACKNOWLEDGING the inaugural and monumental milestone of the ADMM in Kuala Lumpur in 2006 that lays a vital foundation for defence cooperative mechanisms between the ASEAN Member States and inspired by the ten years of achievements of the ADMM in maintaining regional peace, security, stability and prosperity;

COGNISANT of the significance of the achievements and progress of defence and military interactions that have led to the establishment of various fundamental mechanisms namely ASEAN Defence Establishments and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security, the Use of ASEAN Military Assets and Capacities in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network (APCN), ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration (ADIC), ADMM Logistics Support Framework (LSF), ASEAN Defence Interaction Programme (ADIP), ADMM Direct Communications Link (DCL), ASEAN Militaries Ready Group (AMRG) on HADR and ASEAN Center of Military Medicine (ACMM);

SUPPORTING the results of the 1st Consultative Group (CG) of ADIC and 4th ADIC Workshop that finalised the Framework for the Implementation of ADIC with prospects for future defence industry cooperation amongst the ASEAN Member States;

WELCOMING the significant outcome of the 10th ADMM held on 25 May 2016 in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic under the theme of "Promoting Defence Cooperation for a Dynamic ASEAN Community" aiming to foster a united, resilient and prosperous community;

WELCOMING the meaningful activities undertaken to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the ADMM;

UNDERSCORING the commitment of all parties to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), ASEAN's Six-Point Principles on the South China Sea and the Joint Statement of the 15th ASEAN-China Summit on the 10th Anniversary of the DOC, and reiterating the importance of expeditiously working towards an early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC);

RECOGNISING the inaugural and historic milestone of the ADMM-Plus platform and encouraged by the continuous progress in the six areas of defence cooperation between the ASEAN Member States and the Plus countries;

COMMENDING the hard work and efforts of the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Groups (EWGs) in six areas of cooperation namely HADR, Maritime Security (MS), Military Medicine (MM), Counter Terrorism (CT), Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) and Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA);

NOTING the conduct of the ADMM-Plus exercises such as on PKO and HMA and on CT and MS;

WELCOMING the success of the 13th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM) that contributes to the promotion of mutual trust, confidence and military-to-military cooperation between and amongst the ASEAN Member States;

NOTING the outcome of the 9th Network of ASEAN Defence and Security Institutions (NADI) and its Track II Defence Diplomacy role in providing an important proposal for defence cooperation in handling emerging security issues and challenges;

CONCERNED over the frequency, scale and complexity posted by non-traditional threats and reaffirming the need, commitment and collective responsibility of the ADMM to address such threats to promote peace, security and prosperity of the region;

CONDEMNING strongly the terrorist attack in Jakarta, Indonesia on 14 January 2016, that caused the loss of innocent lives, injuries, and damages to properties and extending our deepest sympathies and solidarity with Indonesia and the victims' families, and expressing concerns over the rise of global spread of Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist and radicalised groups and their activities creating threats to both regional and global peace and stability;

DO HEREBY DECLARE TO:

1. Strengthen the ADMM's efforts in promoting regional peace and security through dialogues and cooperation towards a dynamic ASEAN Community;
    

2. Support the existing framework and new initiatives of practical cooperation of ASEAN defence forces based on the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, consensus-based decision making, participation on the basis of a flexible, voluntary and non-binding nature, assets remaining under national command and control and at a pace comfortable to all to promote open and inclusive cooperation to effectively address contemporary security challenges in accordance with the ASEAN Charter and international law;
    

3. Welcome the proof-of-concept of Phase 1 of the DCL in the ADMM Process and the adoption of the Standard Operating Procedure and look forward to the official launch which in effect, brings about the full implementation and operationalisation of Phase 1 of the DCL as a permanent, rapid, reliable and confidential means of communication between the ASEAN Defence Ministers to arrive at mutual decision in handling crisis or emergency situations;
    

4. Adopt the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the ACMM, which outlines the operational details and modalities for its implementation;
    

5. Adopt the Concept Paper on the Establishment of the ADMM-Plus EWG on Cyber Security, which will serve as a framework for cooperation on cyber security among the ADMM-Plus;
    

6. Adopt the TOR of the AMRG on HADR which outlines the principles and modalities for its implementation;
    

7. Welcome the adoption of the ADMM LSF as guidelines towards effective execution of logistics in ASEAN multinational response operations, which was validated and reviewed during the ADMM LSF Table-Top Exercise, held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam;
    

8. Acknowledge the adoption of the Framework for the Implementation of ADIC, which would serve as guidelines for future defence industry cooperation;

9. Intensify the practical cooperation in the ADMM-Plus EWGs to strengthen mutual trust, confidence and capacity in addressing security issues of common concerns;

10. Commit to support the ADMM-Plus exercises such as Command Post Exercises and Field Training Exercises on HADR and MM; and MS to be conducted in 2016;

11. Approve the new set of co-chairs of the ADMM-Plus EWGs for the third cycle from 2017 to 2020 starting after the ADSOM-Plus in 2017 in the Philippines;

12. Encourage civil-military cooperation and collaboration on HADR capacity building in order to minimise or potentially avoid loss of lives and properties;

13. Practise and observe international protocols such as Code for Unplanned Encounter at Sea (CUES) and commence work on crafting protocols of interaction to maintain open communications to avoid misunderstanding and prevent undesirable incidents;

14. Reiterate the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security as well as upholding freedom of navigation in, and over-flight above, the South China Sea as provided for by universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);

15. Work together to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including through cooperation in areas such as the sharing of information and intelligence, conducting coordinated operations where feasible, and enhancing confidence and capability building mechanisms;

16. Welcome the Philippines' chairing of ASEAN and its hosting of the 11th ADMM and 4th ADMM-Plus in 2017.