WE, the Defence Ministers of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, met via videoconference on 10 December 2020 for the Seventh ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (hereinafter referred to as "ADMM-Plus");

RECOGNISING the geopolitical and geostrategic shifts in the region including the implications of deepening regional integration and inter-regional economic cooperation and connectivity as well as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which present both opportunities and challenges that requires avoiding the deepening of mistrust, miscalculation, and patterns of behaviour based on a zero-sum game;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions are integrated and inter-connected with ASEAN at the centre and STRESSING the importance of freedom, openness, inclusiveness and respect for international law;

REEMPHASISING purposes and principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter as well as the fundamental principles of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), including peaceful settlement of disputes and renunciation of the threat or use of force as the key code of conduct in governing our relations and cooperation to promote regional peace and stability;

RECALLING the inauguration of the ADMM-Plus, an integral part of the ADMM, in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on 12 October 2010 as a significant milestone in ASEAN's history by creating a multilateral defence and security cooperation mechanism for trust and confidence-building, and for the Plus Countries to contribute to ASEAN Centrality as well as capacity-building in response to common security threats in the region;

REAFFIRMING the principles for friendly and mutually beneficial relations as set in the Declaration of the East Asia Summit on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations;

UNDERSCORING the efforts to promote the cohesiveness and responsiveness of ASEAN in adapting to geopolitical and geostrategic shifts through strengthening defence cooperation among ASEAN Member States as well as with the Plus Countries;

RECOGNISING the interest of ASEAN's friends and Dialogue Partners to contribute to ASEAN's efforts in promoting regional security and stability in line with the Principles in the Concept Paper on the ADMM-Plus;

COMMENDING the progress of the ADMM-Plus in the past ten years including the annualisation of the ADMM-Plus and the expansion of the number of Experts' Working Groups (EWGs) from five to seven;

COMMENDING AND RECOGNISING the progress of practical cooperation under ADMM-Plus EWGs, namely Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, Maritime Security, Military Medicine, Counter-Terrorism, Peacekeeping Operations, Humanitarian Mine Action and Cyber Security, which have contributed to building capacity and enhancing interoperability amongst ADMM-Plus countries, in order to address security challenges for the collective benefit of the region;

AFFIRMING that the ADMM-Plus has remained open and inclusive, where cooperation is based on mutual respect and in accordance with international law, while upholding ASEAN Centrality and guided by a spirit of fostering collective responsibility through the development of common understanding on security issues;

DO HEREBY DECLARE TO:

1. PROMOTE and STRENGTHEN cooperation and partnership through ADMM-Plus, as the de-facto multilateral mechanism for defence cooperation in the ASEAN-centred regional architecture to strengthen and give new momentum for existing ASEAN-led mechanisms to better face challenges arising from current and future regional environment based on international law for the peace, stability and development of the region;
    
2. WELCOME the positive contributions made by the Plus Countries to address existing and emerging challenges for the peace, stability and development of the region, while reaffirming the principles of ASEAN unity, solidarity and Centrality;
    
3. REAFFIRM the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight as well as the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue peaceful resolution of disputes, without coercion, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);
    
4. CONTINUE TO ENHANCE strategic dialogue and promote practical cooperation on regional defence and security issues among ASEAN Member States and the Plus Countries by implementing the ADMM Three-Year Work Programmes and the ADMM-Plus EWGs Work Plans;
    
5. STRENGTHEN defence cooperation to tackle security challenges through the seven ADMM-Plus EWGs while upholding the principles of ASEAN Centrality, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, consensus-based decision making, flexible, voluntary, and non-binding contributions with assets remaining under national command and control;
    
6. RECOGNISE that it is important for the ADMM-Plus to put in place practical confidence-building measures, by exercising the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, implementing the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, to ensure a peaceful environment conducive to sustainable development and prosperity in the region; and
    
7. WELCOME the convening of the Eighth ADMM-Plus in Brunei Darussalam in 2021.

DONE on this Tenth Day of December in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty, in a single original copy in the English language.

For Australia:

HON. LINDA REYNOLDS
Minister of Defence

For Brunei Darussalam:

THE HONOURABLE PEHIN DATU LAILARAJA MAJOR GENERAL (RETIRED) DATO PADUKA SERI HAJI AWANG HALBI BIN HAJI MD YUSSOF
Second Minister of Defence

For the Kingdom of Cambodia:

SAMDECH PICHEY SENA TEA BANH
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense

For the People's Republic of China:

GENERAL WEI FENGHE
State Councillor, Minister of National Defence

For the Republic of India:

RAJNATH SINGH
Minister of Defence

For the Republic of Indonesia:

PRABOWO SUBIANTO
Minister of Defence

For Japan:

KISHI NOBUO
Minister for Defense

For the Lao People's Democratic Republic:

GENERAL CHANSAMONE CHANYALATH
Minister of National Defence

For Malaysia:

DATO' SRI ISMAIL SABRI BIN YAAKOB
Senior Minister of Defence

For the Republic of the Union of Myanmar:

LIEUTENANT GENERAL SEIN WIN
Union Minister for Defence

For New Zealand:

HON PEENI HENARE
Minister of Defence

For the Republic of the Philippines:

DELFIN N. LORENZANA
Secretary of National Defense

For the Republic of Korea:

SUH WOOK
Minister of National Defense

For the Russian Federation:

ARMY GENERAL SERGEY SHOYGU
Minister of Defence

For the Republic of Singapore:

DR. NG ENG HEN
Minister for Defence

For the Kingdom of Thailand:

GENERAL PRAWIT WONGSUWON
Deputy Prime Minister

For the United States of America:

CHRISTOPHER C. MILLER
Acting Secretary of Defense

For the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:

GENERAL NGO XUAN LICH
Minister of National Defence