Jakarta – After the event The 17th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), the Indonesian Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto again opened and chaired the meeting of the Defense Ministers of ASEAN Member States and the 10th Plus Countries (The 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus / The 10th ADMM Plus) at the Jakarta Convention Center, Thursday, (16/11) yesterday.
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. The eight ASEAN dialogue partners consist of Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States. Collectively they are referred to as “State Plus”.
Menhan Prabowo said that currently there are several other countries that have also expressed their desire to join as ASEAN dialogue partners (ADMM-Plus).
“And this is currently being discussed. Because all decisions in this forum must be taken by consensus. So those who have participated as partners are Britain, France, the European Union. This will continue to be discussed, because several countries are still asking for an explanation,” said Menhan Prabowo.
Menhan Prabowo stated that Indonesia supports the addition of these countries on the basis of the world’s geopolitical development cycle.
“ADMM-Plus has become an effective platform for practical cooperation among the defense agencies of participating countries. ADMM-Plus is currently focusing on seven areas of practical cooperation, namely, Maritime Security (MS), Counter-Terrorism (CT), Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relieve (HADR), Maintenance Operations “Peace Keeping Operation (PKO), Military Medicine (MM), Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) and Cyber Security (Cyber Security/CS),” explained Menhan Prabowo.
In the 10th ADMM-Plus Session, a number of current issues in the field of defense and security were also discussed. Each representative of ASEAN member countries and Plus Countries expressed their views on challenges in the field of defense and security, both at regional and global levels.
Furthermore, Menhan Prabowo also said that the results of the session at the 17th ADMM had agreed to adopt several important documents. These include the Guidelines document for Implementing Observer Status given to Timor Leste, then the ADMM Work Program document for 2023 – 2026, the Draft Concept document on the Implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific from a Defense Perspective, the Draft Draft document on Harmonization of Initiatives from ADMM and ADMM- Plus, as well as the Joint Declaration document of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting for Peace, Prosperity and Security.
Meanwhile, in the results of the 10th ADMM-Plus session, the chairmanship of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group (EWG) was announced for the period 2024 – 2027. ASEAN member countries and Plus Countries also agreed to adopt the ADMM-Plus Joint Statement on Women, Peace and Security.
At the end of the event, Menhan Prabowo held a handover ceremony for the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2024. It was also announced that Laos would host a meeting of Defense Ministers from ASEAN and ADMM-Plus member countries next year. Bembo
