International principles help Asean tackle regional challenges: Ng

The global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia war has exposed vulnerabilities such as supply chain disruptions and geopolitical rivalry, as well as terrorism and cyber attacks, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen yesterday.

- Lim Min Zhang Assistant News Editor

Asean can address these challenges collectively, based on international principles that individual countries can agree on, he said at the sixth Putrajaya Forum held in Kuala Lumpur.

Organised by the Malaysian Institute of Defence and Security, the event brings together defence ministers, officials and academics to discuss defence and security issues.

In a speech that outlined the impact of these two “epochal events” since the last Putrajaya Forum in 2018, Dr Ng cited three key areas as the way forward for security cooperation in the region.

First, the primacy of every country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld, he said, speaking on the topic of “Broadening security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific: Prospects and possibilities”.

“Where there are disputes, we must reject forced and illegal aggression by any country, and instead pursue the settlement of disputes by peaceful means.”