The Diplomat
02 August 2017
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- The Case for Making ADMM-Plus an Annual Meeting
The Case for Making ADMM-Plus an Annual Meeting
In 2018, Singapore will assume the ASEAN Chairmanship, a major responsibility in an increasingly uncertain region. One of Singapore’s responsibilities is the chairmanship of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), the annual meeting of ASEAN defense ministers, as well as the ADMM-Plus, which also includes the defense ministers of eight other extra-ASEAN countries, which are ASEAN’s dialogue partners. Established in 2010, the ADMM-Plus now convenes biennially, although it met once every three years when it first began. As Singapore prepares to take on the ASEAN Chairmanship, much work is already underway to prepare the Republic for this important responsibility. One proposal that Singapore has already raised is the annualisation of the ADMM-Plus.
During the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2017, Singapore’s defense minister, Dr. Ng Eng Hen, announced that both Singapore and Vietnam have “jointly proposed for the ADMM-Plus to be annualised from 2017 onwards.” This will be a momentous movement forward for the ADMM-Plus, as it will demonstrate the political commitment of ADMM-Plus members to meet every year and ensure that discussions remain up-to-date. An ADMM-Plus that only meets once every two or three years would less effectively respond to developments occurring in between meetings.
The annualisation of the meeting also demonstrates the recognized importance of the ADMM-Plus in fostering regional defense diplomacy and security, and the proposal by Singapore and Vietnam could not have been more timely. It also underscores how strategic Singapore and Vietnam are in driving a proposal that is likely to push the ADMM-Plus to new heights and levels of legitimacy, and is expected to be warmly welcomed by the other ADMM-Plus defense ministers. It also demonstrates Singapore’s thought leadership as it prepares to assume the ASEAN Chairmanship next year.
… Henrick Z. Tsjeng is Associate Research Fellow with the Regional Security Architecture Programme, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
IDSS / Online
Last updated on 06/09/2017
