Representatives of 10 Southeast Asian countries have gathered for an online meeting to prepare for the 14th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the 7th ADMM Plus in December.

Defense officials of ASEAN member states at ADSOM. Photo: Nguyen Hai

On November 16-19, defense officials of ASEAN member states will work for the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group (ADSOM WG) held in Hanoi on November 16, the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADSOM) on November 17, ADSOM+ WG on November 18 and the ADSOM+ on November 19.

The meetings are aimed to exchange views on new concepts and standard operations of ADMM, a three-year operational plan for ADMM during 2020-2022, and draft declarations of the 14th ADMM and the 7th ADMM Plus.

Under the chair of Deputy Defense Minister and head of ADSOM Vietnam, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, ASEAN members have maintained multilateral cooperation as reflected through a wide range of events held in the year.

Main topics of the meetings remain enhancing practical defense cooperation and fighting against Covid-19 among ASEAN member states.

Since February 2020, the armies have made joint efforts to combat the pandemic by issuing “Joint Statement of the ASEAN Defense Ministers on Defense Cooperation against Disease Outbreaks” at the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Retreat (ADMM Retreat) and the online table-top exercise (TTX) on Covid-19 response among ASEAN member states’ military medical forces.