Japan`s Deputy Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta attended the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief (ARF DiREx) in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Tuesday despite a massive earthquake and tsunami that had devastated parts of his country last Friday.

Even while Japan was facing an emergency and mobilizing rescue efforts throughout the country, Japan continuously shared live updates on the situation, alerted nations potentially in danger to take necessary precautions, ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said in a press statement received by ANTARA News on Monday.

Indonesia and Japan are co-host of the five-day event to end on March 19. 

"We are very appreciative of what Japan has committed to do in the face of her own unprecedented situation. We would not have been able to roll out the exercise if Japan has not been as committed," he said.

He said some rescuers, vehicles, equipment and technologies, including those from Japan, might be diverted to rescue efforts in Japan, while some would remain to support the exercise in Manado.

Disaster relief is an area the ARF has identified as an area of cooperation to enhance capacity and as a confidence building measure. It is also one of the five areas of cooperation under the East Asia Summit, an ASEAN-led process of which Japan is a member.

The ARF DiREx is a follow-on exercise to the ASEAN Regional Forum-Voluntary Demonstration of Relief (ARF-VDR) on Disaster Relief held in 2009 in the Philippines. A year prior, the ARF also held the ARF Disaster Relief Exercise Table Top Exercise in May 2008 in Indonesia.

The ASEAN Secretary General said he felt great sorrow over natural disasters that affected Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand which are all dialog partners and most generous friends of ASEAN in difficult times. 

"We share their sorrow, and ASEAN governments are standing by to assist Japan in manners required and needed by her affected people." he said adding what happened in Japan was "a clear reminder that natural disasters can occur anywhere, anytime."

In January of this year were the floods in Australia; last month earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand; last week earthquake in Yunnan; then the earthquake and the killer tsunami in eastern Japan, he said. "These massive earthquakes may be signs or warnings that our planet Earth is ailing seriously."

He said Japan`s leadership had helped reduce the number of casualties in Pacific countries. 

"Japan`s leadership, along with international system monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis and the global efforts, have helped reduce the number of casualties in countries in the Pacific," he said.

"When our dialog partners suffer, ASEAN suffers along with them. We are a community. In time of emergencies like this, it is only natural that we step forward and extend our hands to the people of Japan in return. That, too, is an ASEAN Way," he said.

The ARF is the region`s premier security forum, consisting of 27 members, including 10 ASEAN member states, the United States, China, Japan and Australia. The ARF aims to promote open dialog on political and security operation among its members.

Source: ANTARA