INTERNATIONAL MEET OF DEFENCE
UNIVERSITIES BEGINS
The 7th
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Meet of Heads of Defence Universities,
Institutions and Colleges has begun in New Delhi. The three-day
meet will discuss the role of the military in providing assistance
to the civil administration during natural calamities. It will
also discuss the role of UN peace keeping forces which have assumed
greater prominence since the end of the cold war.
Inaugurating the
International meet Lt Gen SS Chahal, Commandant National Defence
College said that the security environment world over is rapidly
changing with resultant fallouts in the Asia-Pacific region. He
stressed the need to evolve a consensual and complementary approach
to tackle issues of common concern and cope with the present day
challenges. He called for synergising our actions and expressed
the hope that the meet will contribute towards developing military
to military relations among the member countries of ARF significantly.
Outlining that
the natural disasters are not confined to national boundaries
he emphasized the need to evolve a framework and contingency plan
which should be based on anticipation, accurate forecasting, preventive
measures and timely relief. He said that the fall out of natural
disaster could be substantially reduced which mutual cooperation,
sharing of experiences and technical expertise.
Lt Gen Chahal commended
the role of UN peace keeping forces in different parts of the
world. He said wherever aberrations have occurred we need to take
note of them and draw lessons for the future.
The meet is being
attended by 19 countries, which include 8 ASEAN members and 11
dialogue partners. The major participants are Australia, China,
European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam
and Myanmar. The ARF was formed in 1994 with a view to foster
constructive dialogue and consultation on political and security
issues of common concern. The forum also aims at making significant
contributions towards instituting confidence building measures.
The 6th ARF
Meet of heads of defence institutions was held at Moscow in September
2002. The current meet is being conducted by National Defence
College, New Delhi.
