Third NADI Meeting 2010
The Third NADI meeting was organised by the Institute of Military Strategy (IMS) , Ministry of National Defence, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, from 19 to 22 April 2010 in Ho Chi Minh City. The meeting was chaired by Lt General Associate Professor Tran Thai Binh, Director General of the IMS and co-chaired by Colonel Tran Hau Hung, Deputy Director, Institute of Defense International Relations (IDIR). The meeting was attended by representatives of defence and security institutions of NADI members (Asean countries).
Lt General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister, Ministry of National Defence, Vietnam, gave the welcome remarks. He acknowledged the importance of NADI and its role in generating “reliable and prompt recommendations on defence cooperation to the Track I meetings” like the Asean Defence Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM) and the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM). He spoke of the recent progress and development of defence cooperation which included new initiatives like the significant initiative of the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus). Lt General Vinh briefed the meeting on the outcome of the recent 16th Asean Summit where the Asean leaders touched upon the establishment of ADMM Plus which they agreed would be important in the building of the Asean Community in the sense that it would help Asean in capacity building and mobilisation of resources through engagement with the external partners. The Asean leaders agreed on the ADMM-Plus 8 configuration and its timely establishment, and strongly supported Vietnam’s hosting of the inaugural ADMM Plus in 2010.
The agenda of the Third NADI meeting covered a wide range of topics which included (a) an exchange of views on “Regional Security and Political Outlook and Emerging Regional Architecture”; (b) propects for enhancing Asean militaries’ cooperation; (c) exchange of views on ADMM Plus; and (d) presentations on (i) maritime security, (ii) climatic change and impact on national security, (iv) role of Asean in the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and prospects for the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC); and (e) updates on NADI Website and upcoming meetings. During discussions on the emerging regional architecture, the NADI participants shared the view that the establishment of ADMM-Plus 8 and the proposed Asean-Plus 8 would be the new layers of regional architecture which will maintain the centrality of Asean.
The Chairman’s Report of the Third NADI meeting is attached.