Inaugural South and Southeast Asian Nations Defence Chiefs’ Dialogue in November
Saturday, 13 September 2014 01:32
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Sri Lanka will initiate and host the inaugural South and Southeast Asian Nations (SASEAN) Defence Chiefs’ Dialogue – 2014 in November in Colombo, Chief of Defence Staff General Jagath Jayasuriya announced Thursday.
The conference, first of its kind, will be held, with the participation of Defence Chiefs in the region, from 27 to 29 November at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo and the Water’s Edge Hotel in Battaramulla.
In addition to the eight SAARC and ten ASEAN member nation defence chiefs, high ranking defence officials from China and Russia are also expected to participate as observers.
The SASEAN Dialogue is initiated with the objective of promoting regional peace and stability through dialog and cooperation in the spheres of defence and security, promoting mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges, and contributing to the establishment of a SASEAN Security Community (SSC), the organisers said.
This regular common forum for the Defence Chiefs of Asia is expected to reinforce the vision of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
The inaugural meeting in Sri Lanka is to be followed by annual meetings hosted by the members of the SASEAN Defence Chiefs’ Dialogue in rotation decided at the preceding meeting. A secretariat is to be formed and a mandate for the secretariat to function during the intervening period is to be adopted at the inaugural and subsequent meetings.
