VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 26 (Interfax) - A joint international antiterrorist exercise of Russia and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the countries of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) has started in Russia's Primorye Territory, the Eastern Military District's press service said on Tuesday.
"The exercise will take place in two stages. At the first stage, representatives from military command bodies of the countries participating in the exercise at the operational and tactical levels will devise a scenario and make a decision to hold an antiterrorist operation," it said.
At the second stage, military units from the participating countries acting as part of a multinational force will practice joint actions in an antiterrorist operation at the Sergeyevsky training range, it said.
The tactical episodes of the exercise are based on options for joint actions by military units from Russia, Myanmar, and other partner states, it said.
Military command bodies and units from Russia's Eastern Military District are engaged in the exercise. Groups and military contingents from Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are invited to practice joint actions as part of a multinational force, it said.
A total of about 700 troops from the participating countries' armed forces, as well as attack planes, army helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other military and special equipment from Russia's Eastern Military District, will take part in the drills, it said.
The exercise is aimed at bolstering and promoting regional interaction in countering terrorism and enhancing interoperability between the ASEAN countries and their Dialogue Partners in opposing terrorism and sharing experience in this field.
ADMM-Plus is an interaction mechanism involving defense agencies of 10 ASEAN member states and eight dialogue partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States). It was set up at Vietnam's initiative in April 2010. The ADMM-Plus currently focuses on seven areas of practical cooperation, i.e. maritime security, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster management, peacekeeping operations, military medicine, humanitarian mine action, and cyber security.