Southeast Asia agrees guidelines on air encounters, terrorism data swaps
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Southeast Asian defense ministers on Friday agreed to a set of guidelines to manage unexpected aerial encounters between their military aircraft, and a deal to exchange information on terrorism and extremism.
ASEAN defence ministers pose for a group photo at the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting in Singapore October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su
The leaders of the ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping signed the joint declaration following a meeting in Singapore.
A code to manage unexpected encounters at sea already exists and was adopted last year by ASEAN countries alongside Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russian Federation, and the United States.
All 10 also agreed to adopt the “our eyes” initiative, launched by six member-states in January, as a platform to exchange information on terrorism, radicalism, violent extremism, and other “non-traditional” threats in the region.
Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
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