Defense ministers of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru will gather here Monday to look into potential areas of cooperation, the Ecuadorian Defense Ministry said Friday.

The gathering, the first time for the three defense ministers, represented a significant step in the process of integration between the neighbors, the ministry said in a statement.

Ecuadorian Defense Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa is scheduled to meet with her Peruvian counterpart Pedro Cateriano on bilateral cooperation, especially in the area of exchanging information on border-region flights of unidentified aircraft.

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon will then join Espinosa and Cateriano for a trilateral meeting, during which they are to discuss regional integration in matters of defense, information exchange on cross-border crimes, and projects carried out by the armed forces in favor of border communities.

The meeting is the result of their shared interests in strengthening cooperation, united efforts to fight common security threats, and the desire to improve the well-being of border communities, the ministry said.

The three are expected to issue a trilateral declaration after the meeting. Endite

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