Vientiane (VNA) – A Vietnamese delegation led by Major Genera🌸l Vu TienT⛎rong, Director of the Defence Ministry's Institute for International Relations, attended the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) in Vientiane, Laos on April 24.

The event also saw the participation of representatives from other ASEAN member nations and eight partner countries of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, India, New Zealand, Russia and the US. Addressing the meeting, Lieut. Gen OnsiSensuk, Chief of the Lao Defence Ministry Office, said the event takes place in the context of complicated developments in the region, especially non-traditional security challenges. The event, therefore, offers a good opportunity for the delegates to exchange their views on regional and global security issues, contributing to promoting peace and stability in the region. The meeting heard a report on recent developments in the ten-member group presented by the ASEAN Secretary General, a report on outcomes of the ASEAN Defence Senior Official Meeting plus Working Group in Laos last February and another report on cooperation of the Experts’ Working Group. Delegates at the event also compared notes on issues regarding regional and international security and national defence. They focused on the terrorism in the region, the nuclear issue in the Korean Peninsula and territorial disputes in the East Sea. In an interview granted to the Vietnamese press on the sidelines of the event, Amy E.Searight, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia, said Washington is concerned about escalating tensions in the East Sea, which the US has discussed with all regional nations and at almost multilateral forums like this. The US called on all the countries to handle such disputes peacefully through diplomatic and legal measures, without threatening to use force and changing the status quo, she said. For his part, Trong said Vietnam expressed its concern over the situation at the meeting and affirmed its pe rsistent stance on the East Sea issue, which should be settled transparently in line with international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as regional commitments.-VNA