KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — Asean military leaders have agreed to form a joint task force to tackle non-traditional cross-border threats and to provide disaster relief in the region.
Malaysian Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Mohd Nizam Jaffar said the formation of the task force was the most important step taken to comprehensively address the eleven main issues discussed at the 22nd Asean Chiefs of Defence Forces Meeting (ACDFM) over three days starting today.
He said that the task force would also play a role in addressing non-traditional cross-border threats such as cybercrime and online fraud, as well as coordinating disaster relief efforts in the region.
“What we have is this combined task force to look into how we can foster cooperation and take joint action together, the task force will begin operating today, we will review and pay close attention to the matters raised during the next meeting in Manila Philippines next year,” he said in a joint press conference with Philippines Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr.
According to Nizam the task force is not identical to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) but is intended to serve as a platform for collective discussions and joint actions when Asean countries face shared threats.
“From one point, this task force is not exactly, but something like Nato, when a threat is directed towards Asean countries, it will be discussed at the same level, for us to develop into what Nato has achieved will take a long time because we still believe in Zopfan(the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality),” he said.
Among the eleven matters highlighted was maintaining the ACDFM as the premier and highest-level forum of military leadership within Asean.
Other commitments included maintaining peace and stability while resolving disputes peacefully in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
All parties are also committed to strengthening trust and confidence-building measures through the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (Cues), Guidelines for Military Air Encounters, Guidelines for Maritime Interaction, the Asean Direct Communications Infrastructure, as well as various other initiatives under the framework of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (Doc).
The ACDFM also saw the handing over of the chairmanship from Malaysia to next year’s host, the Philippines. — Bernama
