May 31st 2002
Top defence ministers and officials from 21 countries arrived in Singapore on Friday for an Asian security conference focusing on terrorism.
Organized by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, the agenda for the Juen 1-2 event also included China's military and security policies, the United States strategy in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe's role in Asian security.
The inaugural launching of what has been billed as Asia's version of the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, which focuses on European issues, was scheduled to be kicked off by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew giving the keynote address Friday night. India's Defence Minister George Fernandes, who had earlier cancelled his trip to the city-state because of escalating tensions with Pakistan, was able to make it after all and called on Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Tony Tan.
The two "discussed the regional security situation and issues of common concern such as terrorism," a Ministry of Defence statement said.
Fernandes was expected to hold meetings with officials from the U.S., U.K. the Philippines, Japan and New Zealand in addition to addressing the conference, calling on Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and visiting the Changi Naval base.
With Indian and Pakistani troops massed along the frontier between the two countries following a December attack on the Indian parliament, foreign powers have been trying to defuse the situation, which some fear may escalate into a nuclear war.
Other high-profile speakers at the conference include U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz, Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon from Britain as well as their counterparts from Japan, Canada and Russia.
Wolfowitz, leading a delegation of senators and congressmen to the conference, heads to the Philippines next to visit with U.S. troops there before returning to Washington on June 4.
Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill said the conference would help forge a shared sense of the security challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region and foster close cooperation.
"Australia has a major stake in the security" of the region, Hill said.
"Our defence relationships with regional countries such as Malaysia and Singapore are an important part of our wider engagement with the region and contribute significantly to its stability."
He stressed the importance of ensuring these relationships remain strong and relevant in "today's profoundly changed and uncertain strategic environment."
Tan and his counterparts from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines will be co-chairing a session focusing on the terrorist threat in Southeast Asia.
