KUALA LUMPUR,
Monday 7 November 2015 – The Commander of Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Major General Dato Paduka Seri Mohd Tawih bin Abdullah and delegations from the Ministry of Defence and RBAF, Brunei Darussalam is currently attending the South and Southeast Asian Nations Defence Chiefs’ Dialogue (SASEAN DCD) in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
The Opening Ceremony of SASEAN DCD was officiated on Monday 7 November 2015 by the Malaysian Minister of Defence, Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein. The two days forum took place at the Officers’ Mess, Ministry of Defence, chaired by General Tan Sri Seri (Dr.) Haji Zulkifeli bin Mohd Zin, Chief of Defence Force, Malaysian Armed Forces.
The forum’s objective is to promote regional peace and stability through dialogue and cooperation in the spheres of defence and security, promoting mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges, and contributing to the establishment of a SASEAN Security Community (SSC). The forum was attended by 17 countries from the region, and discussed on two major themes, firstly Search and Rescue Operations and Disaster Relief Operations, and secondly, fundamentalism and extremism.
In the opening ceremony, the Minister of Defence of Malaysia stressed the role of ASEAN as the primary platform for conflict resolution and to strengthen bonds among nations. He called on the countries to continue in their efforts for greater military diplomacy, intelligence exchanges, and forums such as the SASEAN DCD, in an honest, open and transparent manner. He also highlighted the initiative by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to establish a Direct Communications Link in the ADMM Process to promote rapid response collaboration.
During the forum, Commander RBAF delivered a presentation on Brunei Darussalam’s experiences and lessons learnt in response to regional and international Search and Rescue and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations.
The 1st SASEAN DCD was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2014, initiated by the Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka pioneered this initiative believing that peace and security in Asia can be achieved through dialogue and cooperation leading to a common indivisible area of security in Asia where all states co-exist peacefully and their peoples can live in peace, freedom and prosperity.
