As a Track II Network  of Asean Defence and Security Institutions, NADI aims to do the following:

1. A forum to network and to build confidence and familiarity among the Asean think tanks and research institutions to facilitate closer cooperation.
2. A useful forum for policy analysts specialising in defence  and security issues, academics researching security cooperation and defence officials to discuss issues of security cooperation that the Asean Summit and Asean Defence Ministers have raised.
3.  A forum for participants to think beyond their governments’ positions and to provide timely fresh ideas and relevant recommendations for the Asean defence track to consider.

The S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), took the initiative to inaugurate the Track II Network of ASEAN Defense and Security Institutions (NADI) meeting in Singapore in August 2007.

In taking this initiative to inaugurate NADI, RSIS believed that:

1. The establishment of NADI was timely and necessary to bring policy analysts specialising in defence and security issues, academics researching defence and security cooperation and defence officials together to discuss issues of security cooperation that the ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Defence ministers had raised.
2. The informal Track II platform could offer a more conducive environment for a free discussion of defence and security cooperation in ASEAN than the formal structure of an official meeting. Ideas and proposals that may be deemed too sensitive to be formally tabled at an official Track I meeting, can be informally raised and debated at a Track II meeting
3. As defence officials often face time constraints within their tight schedules to discuss certain matters like the ASEAN Annual Defence and Security Outlook, NADI could provide useful inputs in terms of scope, contents, format and useful inputs for this publication for consideration of the Asean defence track
4. NADI can also contribute to the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) process by thinking ahead of the curve and anticipate possible security challenges, address emerging issues in security cooperation as well as to think of new ideas and recommendations for cooperation which would be relevant and timely for the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM) and the ASEAN defense track to consider.
5. NADI can be a forum to build confidence and familiarity among the ASEAN think tanks and research institutions.
6. Although some participants in NADI meetings are from defence ministries and defence research institutes or government agencies, they should participate in their personal capacities so as to allow them to think innovatively about defence and security issues beyond their government’s positions in order to contribute new ideas and recommendations that are useful and relevant to the ASEAN defense track and the ADMM process.