SINGAPORE, June 1: Australia reignited on Sunday the regional debate over pre-emptive military strikes, warning it was prepared to carry out attacks on foreign soil against terrorist and nuclear threats.

Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill told the Asian Security Conference here that traditional doctrines of self defence were out of date.

“Cooperation and engagement should be attempted but, as I have said, will not always work,” Hill told the gathering of defence ministers, military brass and strategists from the Asia-Pacific region. “The logic of mutual assured destruction that underpinned the Cold War strategic balance does not necessarily apply to rogue states and diffuse terrorist networks.

“There will be limited circumstances in which self defence will require anticipatory action to pre-empt adversaries unleashing massive destruction.”

Some countries reacted angrily when Australian Prime Minister John Howard first floated the issue of pre-emptive strikes late last year, with senior Filipino officials describing the idea as “arrogant”.

Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak, who sat next to Hill during a seminar on strategic issues on Sunday, told reporters afterwards that countries had a right to act in self defence but any attack on Malaysian soil was not acceptable.

Hill claimed in a separate press conference that Australia’s policy was now accepted by its Southeast Asian neighbours.—AFP