Asian Defence Conference begins on friday; US, India and Japan the major participants
Dated 2/6/2006
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Singapore: Defence ministers and military chiefs from some of the world's most powerful countries gathered in Singapore Friday for the Fifth Asia Security Summit.
Among the heavyweights scheduled to speak during the weekend are US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his counterparts from India and Japan.
The three-day summit organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) was scheduled to kick off late Friday with a keynote speech by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Sixteen defence ministers or their deputies and 11 chiefs of staff are to participate in the dialogue.
On the agenda are presentations on the dynamics between the US military and Asia's emerging security architecture, discussions on India and China, and ways armed forces can be fielded for international security.
Participants are also to focus on their national security priorities and debate how a regional security community could be set up.
Tim Huxley, a director of the IISS-Asia, said he expected such issues as securing the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways, to also be discussed.
The dialogue started in Singapore in 2002.
Among the list of participating countries are Australia, Britain, India, China, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, East Timor, the US, Vietnam and Singapore.
