Senior US diplomat Christopher Hill on Sunday urged the countries of Southeast Asia to cooperate more closely in the areas of security and disaster-relief and preparedness.
Hill called for the "militaries in the Southeast Asian region to work more closely together to assist more people more quickly," after disasters, following a visit to the Philippine Military Academy in this northern resort city.
He urged the Philippines, a close ally of the United States, to take the lead in forging multilateral agreements for such cooperation between the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Such multilateral accords can be "a means by which we can gain greater sense of community because militaries will begin to work more closely," Hill said.
"We face challenges like disasters and we can imagine joint exercises including the US military," in practicing to deal with such catastrophes, he said.
"The US is committed to the success of the region and in deepening of our ties," Hill said, remarking that all parties "need to do more and be a little bit faster on reacting to these."
He also said such cooperation could extend to other security threats including drug trafficking, human trafficking and international terrorism. "We face many threats and this is an opportunity for more cooperation," Hill added.
The United States has extended relief assistance, usually through US military personnel, to victims of recent disasters in Southeast Asia such as the deadly tsunami in Indonesia and a killer landslide in the Philippines.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
