Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said Friday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is planning a maritime exercise with the U.S. Navy next year.

Ng told a press conference after a meeting of ASEAN defense ministers in Singapore that the ministers have "agreed to conduct an ASEAN-U.S. maritime exercise next year."

(U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson)[U.S. Navy/Getty/Kyodo]

It would be the first such exercise involving the United States and all 10 ASEAN countries. Although details were unavailable, a source said it is likely to be held in August 2019.

The move appears to be aimed at striking a balance between China and the United States, which both wield considerable influence in the region.

It comes as ASEAN is set to conduct its first-ever joint naval exercise with China from Oct. 22 to 27. It will take place off China's southern coastal city of Zhanjiang, facing the South China Sea where the country has overlapping territorial claims with several ASEAN countries as well as Taiwan.

Ng said it was China and the United States who proposed the maritime exercises.

A joint declaration issued by the ASEAN defense ministers at the end of their meeting said the planned maritime exercises "will enhance friendship and confidence between ASEAN member states' navies and the People's Liberation Army Navy and the U.S. Navy."

Collin Koh Swee Lean, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, a Singapore think tank, said the planned ASEAN-U.S. exercise is "more symbolic than anything else" because several ASEAN members already engage in naval exercises with the U.S. military.

They include the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise and the Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) exercise.

On Saturday, the ASEAN defense ministers will meet with defense chiefs from the United States, China, Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

With defense ministers and military top brass from 18 countries gathered in Singapore, many bilateral meetings have been conducted on the sidelines, including one on Thursday between U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.

The ASEAN defense ministers had decided last year that the such expanded meetings should be held annually instead of biennially.

According to their joint declaration, the ASEAN ministers have adopted a framework for guidelines on air encounters between military aircraft to boost the safety and security of air space in the region.

They also adopted Indonesia's proposal for an "Our Eyes" initiative for sharing strategic information on terrorism and other non-traditional security threats, and Singapore's proposal for an ASEAN-wide network of chemical, biological and radiological defense experts.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: KYODO