Vietnam attends 1st ASEAN – Russia security consultation
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Public Security Gen. To Lam led a Vietnamese high-ranking delegation to attend the first ASEAN – Russia security consultation conference, which was held online on June 28.
The event saw the participation of Gen. Patrushev Nikolay Platonovich, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Robert Matheus Michael Tene and heads of high-level security delegations from ASEAN member countries.
Participants discussed and consulted on measures to maintain political stability and ensure security in the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific regions as ASEAN and Russia are facing difficulties and challenges for security and development.
Speaking at the event, Lam highlighted the significance of the conference, saying that it aimed to promote and deepen the ASEAN - Russia strategic partnership.
He emphasised the need to uphold the responsibility to make this initiative more practical.
The minister urged regional countries to strengthen trust-building measures, establish effective dialogue channels for exchanging views, promptly resolve disagreements, and settle disputes by peaceful measures in order to promote win-win cooperation and sustainable socio-economic development.
Lam stressed the necessity to enhance synchronous coordination among law enforcement agencies of regional countries in sharing information and working experience, and take more measures to prevent, detect and combat emerging crimes.
In order to further deepen the ASEAN-Russia cooperation, Vietnam proposed the two sides to strengthen cooperation within the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) framework to strengthen trust and develop the ASEAN – Russia Strategic Partnership practically and comprehensively.
Lam called for stronger cooperation in traditional security issues and new security challenges such as preventing terrorism, organised crime, transnational crime, and hi-tech crime through available mechanisms and capacity building programmes for law enforcement personnel.
Attention should also be paid to considering the possibility of expanding professional information sharing between law enforcement agencies of the two sides, and developing a mechanism to coordinate ASEAN-Russia relations at the ministerial level in combating terrorism and organised and transnational crimes, the minister said.
The two sides need to further promote cooperation in combating illegal activities at sea such as terrorism, piracy, armed attacks on ships and boats by elevating cooperation in the framework of mechanisms that ASEAN plays a leading role, including the ARF, the East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF), Lam said.
He called for global and regional cooperation to ensure security at sea, freedom of navigation and overflight, freedom of commerce, self-restraint, and no use or threat to use force, and settle disputes by peaceful solutions in accordance with basic principles of international law set forth in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), relevant standards and recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Lam affirmed that as the rotating Chair of ASEAN in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, Vietnam is committed to contributing to promoting dialogue, cooperation and trust-building processes chaired by ASEAN, and always ready to work closely with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and other ASEAN states for a secure, peaceful and stable environment, and sustainable socio-economic development.
Vietnam believes that ASEAN member countries and Russia will always be consistent with the policy of ensuring peace and stability in the region, he said./.
VNA