Asian security chiefs yesterday called for greater joint efforts to combat common threats, be it "a terrorist or a virus," but festering rivalries were evident as Pakistan accused India of starting a nuclear arms race.
An annual gathering of defense ministers and high-level officials on regional security ended with a warning by Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson that East Timor could become a haven for terrorists if the countries in the region do not come together to help stop its slide into full civil war.
Earlier yesterday, Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak proposed a regional humanitarian relief center as part of an Asian "security village."
"If we could set up many anti-terrorist centers all over, then I am sure we can create this regionally based humanitarian relief coordinating center," Razak told the conference, which was also attended by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Najib said the proposed center could provide an organized and coordinated response to disasters such as the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami and last month's earthquake in Indonesia. While medical and rescue teams from the region were deployed swiftly in both cases, he said they could have been more organized and better coordinated.
"I am confident that we have the political will to realize this," he said.
He said the center should not be exclusive to the 10 members of the ASEAN, and could possibly include Australia, the US and Japan.
"The security that we seek in this community is common security, security for all. It is not just the security of states or sea lines but the safety of its people," he said.
Simmering tensions in South Asia rose to the surface at the forum when Pakistan's General Ehsan ul-Haq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, said resolving the dispute over Kashmir was key to permanent peace with arch-rival India. In the same speech, he accused India of starting the nuclear arms race in South Asia.
"We did not introduce nuclear weapons into South Asia. Somebody else did that," Haq said.
He was challenged by an Indian general who questioned Pakistan's democratic credentials but Haq sidestepped the issue.
Haq also defended his country's struggle against terrorism, saying Pakistan had committed more forces and garnered more success in the global war on terror than any other country.
Nelson stressed that a broad coalition of countries should support East Timor's security.
More than 2,000 peacekeepers from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal are in East Timor. Their arrival followed weeks of chaos sparked by the sacking of hundreds of soldiers who were protesting discrimination in the military.
Singapore's Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean noted that globalization had created the "pressing need" for countries to pool knowledge and ideas to enhance their collective security.
"This is true whether the adversary is a terrorist or a virus, or whether we're just trying to face the forces of nature," Teo said.
Also yesterday, the Philippines' defense chief, Avelino Cruz, said his nation could defeat a 30-year-old communist rebellion within a decade.
RSS