Myanmar’s actions risk undermining Asean centrality: Ng Eng Hen

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN)- Myanmar’s objection to Asean engaging more partners for defence cooperation risks undermining the Asean centrality that has been painstakingly built over more than two decades of defence cooperation, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Nov 20.

Speaking after the 18th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in Vientiane, Laos, Dr Ng said Asean was at an impasse on certain issues discussed at the meeting due to Myanmar’s sole objection.

He warned that the ADMM will lose credibility if the impasse continued, and called on Myanmar to “not use Asean to engage in the politics of retaliation”.

Following a March meeting, the ADMM said it was considering accepting new members for its expanded defence meeting platform, the ADMM-Plus, which currently includes eight dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the US.

Some Western countries had expressed interest in joining the ADMM-Plus, and the process was supposed to be finalised and proposed for Asean members’ endorsement at the just-concluded ADMM.

But Myanmar’s objection to some of the items on the meeting’s agenda meant that Malaysia would have to take up the matter again in 2025, when it becomes Asean chairman, said Dr Ng.

“We had a consensus, except for the objection by Myanmar,” he added.

Dr Ng said Singapore raised an objection to remind Myanmar not to use the 10-member bloc for its own purposes.

“I think people recognise the difficulty that Myanmar has placed us in,” he said. “They know that Myanmar’s behaviour was not in keeping with (Asean) leaders’ decision that Myanmar shouldn’t obstruct Asean’s progress and desire to move forward.”

That other countries are seeking to join the ADMM-Plus shows that it has attained a measure of success as a platform for regional militaries to engage productively with one another, added Dr Ng.

He said the grouping nevertheless agreed on a forward-looking agenda for the coming years.

In a statement, Mindef said the defence ministers approved a strategy paper on a future-ready ADMM and ADMM-Plus. Co-sponsored by Brunei and Singapore, it charts out a post-2025 strategy that will refresh the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Groups and Observership Programme, so that the platforms remain relevant and forward-looking.

The ADMM-Plus has seven expert working groups. They cover the areas of maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping operations, military medicine, humanitarian mine action and cyber security.

The ministers also agreed to a joint declaration that did not sugar-coat the security challenges that countries in Asean face, added Dr Ng. These include the South China Sea dispute, the situation in Myanmar, climate change and so forth, he said.

The Vientiane joint declaration that was adopted reaffirmed the ADMM’s commitment to strengthening defence cooperation and enhancing resilience among Asean member states and Plus countries in the face of common and emerging security threats.

Following the ADMM, Asean defence ministers will be joined by their counterparts from the eight dialogue partners for the 11th ADMM-Plus meeting on Nov 21.