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:
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
Nicky Hamer (Minister Reynolds’ Office): +61 437 989 927
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