MYANMAR – Dr. Ng Eng Hen, the Minister of Defence for Singapore, warned that the Myanmar junta council could ruin regional cooperation and trust in the ASEAN Region at the 18th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting held in Laos on November 20.
Although nine members of the ASEAN agreed to defence coordination programs with new allies, the representative of the Myanmar junta council opposed the programs, resulting in the discussions failing to achieve any results.
“Myanmar’s action can potentially harm the regional cooperation of ASEAN that we have put in so much effort to build in the past two decades. It can ruin the trust of the ASEAN Defence Ministers,” said Dr. Ng Eng Hen.
He also pointed out that Myanmar’s action contradicted with the agreement to implement the five ASEAN consensus agreed by ASEAN leaders and also the decision for the Myanmar issues to not affect the decisions of ASEAN.
“Myanmar junta council should not use ASEAN for its political revenge nor push the ASEAN Defence Ministers meetings to troubling situations for its own selfish goals,” said the Singapore Minister of Defence.
It was agreed at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) to continue discussions on items that failed to achieved conclusion at the next year meeting and the Singapore Defence Minister urged cooperation for the benefit of the ADMM.
Director Zaw Naing Win from international affairs department of the junta council’s Ministry of Defense represented the junta council at the 18th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting in Laos.
