Southeast Asia to discuss defense

Southeast Asia to discuss defense

HANOI (Reuter): Thai Defense Minister, Gen. Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh, said yesterday that Thailand and Vietnam would
discuss proposals for a NATO-style regional defense bloc with
other countries at a military conference this March.

Chavalit told a news conference in Hanoi that Southeast Asia
needed a defense grouping to promote stability. "We would like to
discuss measures or an organization to solve all disputes in the
region," he said.

"Of course we don't expect any disputes in the region but if
there are, we should have an organization to solve them. An
example for that is NATO, in Europe, which is the organization to
solve all such kind of disputes or disagreements," he added.

Chavalit, on a two-day visit to Vietnam, said Southeast Asian
states would be represented at the meeting in Thailand, along
with countries who are members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF),
officially billed as a multilateral consultative forum promoting
security in the Asia-Pacific Region.