We’ll get by with a little help from our friends.
“To beef up regional security and thwart criminal activities at sea, defense officials of the Philippines Malaysia, and Indonesia have agreed to conduct trilateral maritime and air patrols in the three countries’ maritime areas of common concern, particularly in the Sulu Sea,” reports Julie M. Aurelio in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
On Mon, Jun 20, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Voltaire Gazmin met with his two counterparts — Malaysia’s Hishammuddin Hussein and Indonesia’s Ryamizard Ryacudu — to discuss security concerns in the three nations’ common maritime borders. The meeting was a follow-up to last month’s meeting of Southeast Asia defense ministers.
In a statement, the DND revealed that Gazmin, Hussein and Ryacudu “raised concerns over recent kidnappings and armed robberies at sea in the areas of common concern” and “reaffirmed the need, commitment, and collective responsibility of the countries to address such threats that undermine peace, security and prosperity in the region.”
The report noted: “Aside from a trilateral maritime patrol working group, each country would put up a maritime command center and would retain overall responsibility for the deployment of their military assets.”
Reader Interactions