In a covert reference to China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged participating nations to exercise self-restraint as he addressed a virtual meeting of an ASEAN-led forum on Thursday. "As we enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercising self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoiding actions that may further complicate the situation will go a long way in bringing sustained peace to the region," Singh said as he addressed the meeting of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus).
Though Rajnath Singh refrained from naming China, his remarks came in the backdrop of the seven-month-long military standoff between India and China in Eastern Ladakh.
Singh also interacted with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe after nearly three months during Thursday’s virtual meeting. Singh had last met Fenghe in September on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Moscow. Since then, several rounds of military and diplomatic level talks have taken place between India and China. However, all the meetings failed to restore status quo ante on the Line of Actual Control. The last and the eighth round of military commanders' meetings happened on November 6. Since then, efforts are on to have another round of negotiations.
On the occasion of 10th Anniversary of ADMM Plus on Thursday, Singh also called for a concerted effort by southeast Asian countries to fight emerging threats to regional peace and security. “We need to continue our efforts to address the threats of bio-terrorism and pandemic diseases. Threats to the rules-based order, maritime security, cyber-related crimes and terrorism, just to name a few, remain the challenges that we need to address as a forum,” Singh said in his address to the ADMM Plus.
The ASEAN defence minister's meet was formed in 2010 to enhance security and defence cooperation in the region. Vietnam chaired the meeting this year. ADMM Plus comprises the 10 ASEAN members and its eight dialogue partners, viz, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
Singh stated that our (ASEAN) collective achievement in the past decade has been remarkable in advancing multilateral cooperation through strategic dialogues and practical security cooperation. "Exercises in maritime security, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, counter terrorism and peace-keeping operations bring together militaries of the members to jointly train and build confidence. The experts working group on humanitarian mine action promotes practical and effective cooperation in dealing with consequences of explosive remnants of war in the region," Singh said. He also added cyber security and military medicine were at the forefront of our challenges today.
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Singh said field training and table-top exercises help members of the grouping understand each other and maintain peace in the region. "Our ability, to collectively respond to challenges in the region, based on the fundamentals of freedom, inclusivity and openness will define our future," he said, while adding that, “Threats to the rules-based order, maritime security, cyber-related crimes and terrorism... remain the challenges that we need to address as a forum."
"I reiterate our objective to build capacity to address shared security challenges. These challenges are becoming increasingly trans-boundary in character and we need to forge closer military-to-military interactions and cooperation amongst the ADMM Plus countries," Singh added. While talking about the impact and new challenges emerging after COVID-19, Singh maintained that we have to make sure that the world economy moves on the path of recovery and when it does gather steam, it would ensure that the recovery leaves no one behind. He further said the pandemic has forced us all to reassess our healthcare infrastructure, focus on availability and affordability of vaccines and medicines, development of reliable supply chains and highlighted the need for strong collaborations in medical research.
"Since the virus does not respect national boundaries, the response to the pandemic also needs to be collective and collaborative," Singh concluded.
