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Asia-Pacific powers finalize disaster relief plan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-24 17:14 SINGAPORE -- Asia-Pacific powers announced an ambitious plan Thursday to pool international assets, including military support, to tackle natural disasters in a region beset by cyclones, earthquakes and floods. At the end of their meeting, foreign ministers of 26 countries and the European Union also disclosed plans for a joint relief exercise in 2009 to prepare. They called for civilian-military coordination in disaster relief -- a need that became evident during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Myanmar cyclone in May and the China earthquake the same month. "It makes a lot of sense to conduct such exercises," said host Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo. It is important to have "a common vocabulary so that we don't misunderstand each other when we are in a hurry." Disaster relief dominated discussions at the five-day security conference of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Thursday's meeting with its 17 partners in the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF. The partners cover virtually half the world -- from the United States and European Union to Russia and Australia. Yeo said they also talked about North Korea's nuclear program, terrorism, the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand as well as the food and energy crisis. A statement at the end of the meeting said the ministers "recognized that military assets and personnel ... have played an increasingly important role in regional disaster responses." The statement reveals far-reaching steps planned by the 27 members of the regional grouping. |
