Military contingents from India and China are among several others participating in the anti-terrorist drills which kicked off in Russia’s Far-East region this week, a statement the Russian mission to ASEAN said on Wednesday.
The military drills, taking place under the framework of in ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM), are being held in Primorsky Krai, it said.
Besides the 10 southeast Asian countries, the ADMM Plus mechanism comprises India, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the US.
The Russian statement noted that the drills are aimed at “strengthening and promoting regional cooperation in counter-terrorism, enhancing operational cooperation” and sharing counter-terrorism experience among the southeast Asian countries and their ‘Dialogue Partners’.
The counter-terror drills are being held under two stages.
“At the first stage, representatives of the military command bodies at the operational and tactical levels are to determine the concept and develop a decision to conduct an anti-terrorist operation,” the statement noted.
During the second stage, the military contingents will conduct “joint practical actions” as part of an anti-terrorist operation at the Sergeevsky training grounds, the embassy statement said.
ADMM-Plus Mechanism
According to ASEAN, the ADMM-Plus mechanism focuses on seven areas of practical cooperation — maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster management, peacekeeping operations, military medicine, humanitarian mine action and cyber security.
An expert working group (EWG) coordinates the activities of the ASEAN states and its dialogue partners in all the areas.
The EWG on counter-terrorism is currently co-chaired by Russia and Myanmar.