On December 10, 2020, Minister of Defense Kishi attended the ceremony for the 10th Anniversary of the Founding of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (hereinafter referred to as “ADMM-Plus”), the 7th ADMM-Plus, and the 6th ASEAN-Japan Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting via a videoconference.
What is ADMM-Plus?
The ADMM-Plus is the only meeting hosted by a government and attended by defense ministers in the Indo-Pacific region, including ASEAN and Plus countries.
Member countries include: ten ASEAN member states and eight Plus countries (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia, and the U.S.)
The Experts’ Working Group (EWG) was established under the ADMM-Plus to implement practical initiatives such as joint exercises to respond to security issues in the Indo-Pacific region.
10th Anniversary Ceremony of ADMM-Plus
The online ceremony of the 10th Anniversary of the Founding of the ADMM-Plus was held with the attendance of H.E. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Viet Nam, Minister-level participants from ten ASEAN Member States and eight Plus countries, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN. H.E. Mr. Phuc, H.E. General Ngo Xuan Lich, Minister of National Defence of Viet Nam, H.E. Dato. Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN, and H.E. Mr. Atul Khare, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, all delivered speeches looking back on the development of ADMM-Plus over the past decade. Minister Kishi and H.E. Mr. Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defense of India, also made commemorative speeches on behalf of the Plus countries.
Minister Kishi noted that the ADMM-Plus has made steady progress as the only framework for government-hosted meetings of Defense Ministers within the Indo-Pacific Region, and underscored his deep respect for ASEAN’s efforts in establishing and maintaining such an open and inclusive regional framework, noting ASEAN’s role as the driving force behind dialogue given its part in leading a diverse framework comprising ASEAN and Plus countries.
Minister Kishi emphasized that Japan has consistently honored ASEAN’s regional leading role and supported its initiatives to tackle non-traditional security challenges. He also stressed that Japan has advocated for participating countries overcoming regional security challenges through reason and dialogue. Minister Kishi expressed his strong expectation that ADMM-Plus will continue to be a platform for confidence-building, and pointed to Japan’s determined commitment to furthering security cooperation in the region as a responsible Plus country.
This article was first published by the Japanese Ministry of Defence.