Multilateral Security Dialogues

The Vientiane Vision is a guiding principle for Japan’s defense cooperation with ASEAN, announced as Japan’s own initiative by Defense Minister Inada at the second ASEAN-Japan Defence Ministers' Informal Meeting held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 16 November 2016.

• Vientiane Vision 2.0

On November 15, 2023, during the 8th ASEAN-Japan Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting, Defense Minister Kihara presented Japan-ASEAN Ministerial Initiative for Enhanced Defense Cooperation: JASMINE to advance Japan-ASEAN defense cooperation to a new level. In line with the spirit of “Vientiane Vision 2.0,” JASMINE proposed specific defense cooperation under four pillars in order to realize the shared vision of the future for the Indo-Pacific region.

• Japan-ASEAN Ministerial Initiative for Enhanced Defense Cooperation: JASMINE

ADMM-Plus is the only official framework of Defense Minister’s meetings in the Asia-Pacific Region. In addition to the ten countries of ASEAN, eight countries such as Japan, the US and China participate in this framework to promote more practical defense cooperation.

Under the umbrella of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus(ADMM-Plus), there are seven Experts’ Working Groups (EWGs); Counter Terrorism, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR), Maritime Security, Military Medicine, PKO, Humanitarian Mine Action and Cyber Security.

• The 13th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Ministerial Forum
• The 12th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Ministerial Forum
• The 11th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Ministerial Forum
• The 10th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Ministerial Forum
• The 9th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Ministerial Forum
• The 8th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Ministerial Forum

The ARF was established as a forum for dialogue in the security field in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes China and Russia in addition to Japan and the ASEAN member nations. The purpose of the forum is to promote confidence building and prevent conflict in the region.

The TDF is held by the Ministry of Defense as a forum for defense authorities of the Asia-Pacific region to exchange opinions. The forum is intended to contribute to regional stability by promoting deeper mutual understanding of each other’s defense policies and increasing transparency among the participating countries. The TDF seminar is a seminar open to the public where defense authorities and defense experts at home and abroad discuss security issues with the aim of promoting public understanding of and interest in security issues.

The meeting of senior defense officials was established for the purpose of conducting frank dialogues concerning the security issues confronting the region and developing close personal relationships by inviting senior defense officials from the ASEAN member nations to Japan.
Moreover, the Tokyo Seminar is held with the participation of experts from Japan and overseas. It takes as its themes security issues common to the Asia-Pacific region and measures for promoting regional cooperation, and adopts an open-style approach to promoting regional cooperation.

The IISS Asia Security Summit is a multilateral conference forum where defense ministers centered on the Asia-Pacific nations discuss regional security issues and defense cooperation within the region. In addition to defense authorities, participation in the summit is also open to researchers, parliament members, and journalists.

The IISS Manama Dialogue, held annually by the IISS(The International Institute for Strategic Studies) in Manama, Bahrain, is an international conference where participants, who are mainly members of foreign affairs or defense authorities in the Middle East, exchange views on security issues.

• Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense Miyake’s Participation in 60th Munich Security Conference, and Bilateral Meetings (Summary)
• The 56th Munich Security Conference