Meeting On Establishing "Hotline" Among ASEAN Defense Chiefs Held In Brunei

The first ad hoc working group meeting on establishing a Direct Communications Link (DCL) in the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting process was convened here on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry of Brunei Darussalam said.
Participants are from the ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretariat, as well as various departments and units from both the Ministry of Defense of Brunei and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
The Defense Ministry said the convening of the three-day meeting is another step ahead in th developing arrangement phase of the initiative on establishing a DCL in the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM).
This DCL initiative is aimed at providing a permanent, rapid, reliable and confidential means by which any two ASEAN defense ministers may communicate with each other to arrive at mutual decisions in handling crisis or emergency situations, in particular related to maritime security, with the objectives to prevent or defuse misunderstandings and misinterpretations, and therefore to prevent escalation; and to promote quick-response cooperation in emergency situations, the Defense Ministry said.
The goal would not be to resolve underlying issues, the Defense Ministry said, but to effectively manage and contain tensions in the event of a possible military encounter, to foster de- escalation, and to provide channel for initial quick reaction and assistance in emergency situations.
It has been a valuable process so far, ever since during the last year's ADMM in Brunei when it started to evolve, where the ASEAN defense ministers have responded to the call made by Brunei' s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Chairman of the 22nd ASEAN Summit, in supporting the idea of putting in place practical procedures, which could assist in avoiding undesired incidents at sea.
According to the Defense Ministry, the main objectives of the meeting are to discuss and come up with the technical, technological and security parameters of the communications systems of the DCL; and to discuss on the way forward.
The process up to now has clearly focused on the follow-up to the decisions taken at the 8th ADMM last May in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, that is ultimately to activate the DCL by 2015 in Malaysia, the Defense Ministry added. (Cihan/Xinhua)