Defence Ministers of US, Russia, Japan and New Zealand respond to the 'scourge of terrorism'

Defense Minister Ron Mark, along with his international defence peers, have met to discuss the "scourge of terrorism".

Defence Minister Ron Mark, along with his international defence peers, have met to discuss the "scourge of terrorism" and how best to curb its spread.

New Zealand committed to sharing information with other countries to help counter the effects of international terrorism.

Defence ministers from Australia, China, Japan, the US, Korea, Russia, India and New Zealand met in Singapore last week to discuss strengthening security challenges at ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).

In a joint statement, the ministers said terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

They called upon all states to "fulfil their international counter-terrorism obligations".

These include taking steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts, eliminating the financing of terrorism and preventing the recruitment and movement of terrorists.

"We stress that terrorism can only be defeated by a sustained and comprehensive approach at the national and international levels.

"In this regard, we emphasise the importance of cooperation between states and their competent bodies who bear the primary responsibility in preventing and countering terrorism."

Mark said ADMM was the cornerstone of New Zealand's South East Asia defence engagement and remains New Zealand's main forum for multilateral defence engagement in Asia.

"ADMM-Plus defence ministers were united in their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and agreed to strengthen regional counter-terrorism cooperation.

"This will include cooperation through capacity-building initiatives and the sharing of information, intelligence, best practice and lessons learnt."

New Zealand has been an ASEAN dialogue partner for more than 40 years, and a contributor to the ADMM-Plus framework since its inception.

The joint statement also outlined the intention to step up "practical military-to-military cooperation."