ASEAN SAR experts hold talks

ASEAN SAR experts hold talks

SINGAPORE (AFP): Search and rescue experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialogue partners began talks here yesterday on saving sea disaster victims in the region.

Singapore opened the meeting with a call for the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a regional security platform, to adopt a document committing them to facilitate the "quick and easy movement of search and rescue units over their territories."

Senior foreign ministry official Kishore Mahbubani said the 110 delegates at the meeting would discuss how to step up search and rescue coordination and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The speed and efficiency with which regional search and rescue operations are mounted is a barometer of the "level of trust and confidence among regional states," he said.