8th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus Was Held Recently:
It is being hosted by Brunei as it is the chair of the ASEAN grouping this year.
- Consistent with the ADMM guiding principles of open and outward-looking, the 2nd ADMM in Singapore in 2007 adopted the Concept Paper to establish the ADMM-Plus.
- The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners to strengthen security and defense cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.
- Eight Dialogue Partners are Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia, and the USA (collectively referred to as the “Plus Countries”).
- It aims to promote mutual trust and confidence between defense establishments through greater dialogue and transparency.
- Agreed five areas of practical cooperation under this mechanism are:
- Maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping operations and military medicine.
- In 2013, a new priority area of humanitarian mine action was agreed.
