June 1st 2003
By Richard Hubbard
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Regional cooperation among Asian security institutions needs to be stepped up to fight the spread of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, three of the region's defense ministers said on Sunday.
The ministers from India, Australia and Malaysia said the world had markedly changed in the wake of threats posed by international terrorists and by North Korea (news - web sites)'s possession of nuclear weapons.
"Military capability and civilian intelligence will have to be synergised towards greater cooperation," India's defense minister George Fernandes said.
"As we all know there is little of that at this point in time both at the regional and global level."
Australia's defense minister, Robert Hill, said while weapons of mass destruction and terrorism were not new threats, neither had been given enough attention by strategic planners over the last decade.
"The costs of such inaction are now much clearer and the will to act much stronger."
"This requires a broader view of security, the courage to re-examine our assumptions, the trust to work together and preparedness to act before it's too late," Hill said.
The defense ministers were addressing a gathering of government officials, military personnel and academics attending on the closing day of the second Asia Security Conference, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons, U.S. troop deployments in the region, terrorist groups in southeast Asia and fears over maritime security all dominated discussions both in the conference and at bilateral meeting held on the sidelines.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, told the conference that despite reports of plans to realign forces in Asia, "no decisions have been made yet" and they would await consultations with allies and the U.S. Congress.
The conference, hosted for the second year by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, is one of the few venues for dialogue on Asian regional security matters.
John Chipman, director of the IISS, said the forum played a role in allowing defense ministers to gather to debate regional security concerns.
Malaysia's defense minister Sri Najib Tun Razak said Asia needed to find a common ground to address security concerns and take a broader view of the resolving conflicts.
"Traditional military and security doctrines will need increasingly to take into account the social, economic and political consequences of conflict," Najib said.
Earlier the conference heard that maritime security was becoming an increasingly urgent priority for regional countries.
Over a quarter of the world's trade and half its oil passes through the Straits of Malacca, which run between Malaysia and Indonesia and lead to Singapore.
"Japan imports 98 percent of its oil, and by 2020, China's oil consumption alone will nearly double. Much of that will transit through the narrow straits of Southeast Asia," said Admiral Thomas Fargo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
"This oil, like the straits, must be protected."
Tony Tan, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, said any disruption to shipping would have severe implications for trading nations all around the world.
"In a world linked by international trade and commerce, and with a global economy built on integrated supply chains, any disruption to the safety and security of navigation in these waters would be a shock to the international system," Tan said.
