Russia joins ASEAN declaration on prevention of conflicts at sea

Defen?e ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and partners in dialogue have signed a declaration on preventing conflicts at sea. Representatives of Russia, the United States, China, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia joined the gathering alongside ASEAN member states in Brunei on August 29. Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, a minister in the office of the prime minister of Brunei, said after the meeting that the dialogue had been fruitful for prospects of developing practical cooperation. “We are looking forward to holding joint exercises to learn how to provide security at sea, fight terrorism and carry out peacekeeping operations,” he added. The Brunei declaration is designed to stimulate cooperation among the military agencies of ASEAN and the organisation’s partners, as well as to avoid undesirable incidents at sea. “We are going to strengthen interaction among the ASEAN nations and their partners and increase collective responsibility for regional security,” the declaration said. ASEAN defense ministers and their partners meet next in Malaysia in 2015.