Sunday, December 17, 2006 (601 reads)

by Martin Abbugao

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 28, 2006 (AFP) - Asia's top security forum, which includes the United States, China and Russia, plans to develop guidelines for civilian and military cooperation to ensure swift responses to natural disasters, officials said. The plan includes taking an inventory of the transport capabilities of the region's armed forces that can be used for humanitarian operations in the aftermath of a calamity, they said. Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) adopted a statement on "disaster management and emergency response" at the end of their annual meeting here Friday.