I. BACKGROUND
1. The ASEAN Secretariat was requested by the Working Group on Security Cooperation of the ASEAN Special Senior Officials’ Meeting (Special SOM), held in Yogyakarta on 9 May 2004, to draft a concept paper on establishing a forum for ASEAN Defence Ministers for the consideration of the ASEAN Special SOM Working Group on Security Cooperation at its next meeting. The Working Group agreed that a meeting of ASEAN Defence Ministers would contribute to the objectives of the ASEAN Security Community as stated in the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II of 7 October 2003.
2. The 10th ASEAN Summit, held in Vientiane on 29 November 2004, adopted the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) Plan of Action. Section III.1(c) of the Areas of Activities of the ASC Plan of Action provides that ASEAN shall work towards the convening of an annual ADMM.
3. Recently, there has been increasing recognition of the role of regional cooperation in the promotion of peace and security. For instance, the United Nations has been promoting the concept of “security regions” and the U.N. Secretary-General's Report “In Larger Freedom”, which was considered by the Heads of State and Governments in September 2005, called on regional organizations “to play complementary roles” with the United Nations in facing the challenges to international peace and security.