Australian Minister for Defence Stephen Smith, Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel held trilateral defence ministerial talks in Singapore June 1 on the margins of the International Institute of Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue. This was the second meeting of its kind among the three nations’ top defense officials.
The defence ministers exchanged views on the regional security situation, and share the recognition that North Korea constitutes a serious destabilizing factor for the entire East Asian region. They discussed opportunities for strengthening trilateral cooperative efforts, through information sharing, joint military training and exercise coordination. They will conduct a joint study on defence capacity building efforts in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
The three ministers outlined the following strategic goals for trilateral cooperation:
Building on these strategic goals, the three ministers pledged to continue progress on the action plan as agreed last year to promote a dynamic and flexible trilateral defence relationship in order to enhance the security and prosperity of the region.
[mappress] Press Release, June 4, 2013; Image: Australian MoD