SINGAPORE, June 2 (UPI) -- Defense ministers and military leaders from at least 20 nations will gather in Singapore Friday to discuss a joint Asia-Pacific security strategy.
The war against terrorism, regional missile defense, and arms control and proliferation will be addressed at the three-day conference of delegates from the Asia-Pacific, the United States, Britain and Europe.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to outline a regional maritime security proposal that would increase patrols in the vulnerable Malacca Straits, the waterway between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore through which one quarter of the world's oil supplies are shipped.
Also on the agenda is likely to be the Proliferation Security Initiative, which would permit interdiction of ships suspected of carrying missiles or components of weapons of mass destruction.
The gathering will be the third annual meeting of Asian defense ministers.
