FIRST Admiral (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Tamit, Deputy Minister of Defence yesterday attended the soft launching of the ‘Our Eyes’ Initiative at Mulia Hotel, Bali, Republic of Indonesia,
According to the Ministry of Defence, the event was hosted by General (Rtd) Ryamizard Ryacudu, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia.
Also present were Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Singapore; Dato’ Sri Mohd Johari bin Baharum, Deputy Minister of Defence, Malaysia; General Chaichan Changmongkol, Deputy Minister of Defence, Kingdom of Thailand; and Cesar B Yano, Undersecretary for Defence Operation, Republic of the Philippines.
The event began with an opening remark by General (Rtd) Ryamizard, where he observed that security challenges are evolving beyond conventional threats and nation-to-nation conflicts to include more non-traditional and cross border threats such as terrorism.
He highlighted the need for multilateral cooperation in addressing these threats, particularly emphasising the importance of the ‘Our Eyes’ Initiative as a timely effort to counter the menace of terrorism in the region.
The heads of delegations exchanged views on the issues of terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism, after which they signed the proposed joint statement of the ‘Our Eyes’ Initiative.
One day prior to the soft launching event, the Second ‘Our Eyes’ Initiative Working Group Meeting was held to finalise the terms of references and proposed joint statement of the initiative, whose members are Brunei Darussalam, Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Singapore and the Kingdom of Thailand, is an information-sharing platform which aims to counter terrorism, radicalism and violent extremism.
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