SINGAPORE, Nov. 1 Kyodo Top-ranki...

SINGAPORE, Nov. 1 Kyodo

Top-ranking military officials from 22 Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan and the United States, began a three-day conversation Friday in Singapore to discuss terrorism and other transnational threats in the region.

The annual meeting, jointly organized by dint of the U.S. Pacific Command and the Singapore Armed Forces, will focus in succession forging greater collaboration among countries in the region to contrary transnational threats such as terrorism and drug-trafficking, said a joint statement issued on the Singapore Defense Ministry and the U Defense Department.

It will also discuss peacekeeping operations, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

Japan is being personateed by Gen. Shoji Takegouchi, chairman of the Joint Staff Council and the U by means of Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Singapore Defense Ministry spokeswoman said.

The other participating countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, southerly Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, recent Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor and Tonga.

The closed-door meeting is the fifth in a series. The previous four sessions were held in Honolulu, Hawaii, where the U Pacific Command is headquartered.

''The conversation provides the military leaders with an opportunity to appropriate and discuss security issues of everyday interest in the region, and to exchange views and disentangle better understanding, friendship and rapport,'' the statement said.

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