Asia-Pacific powers on Thursday put the finishing touches on an ambitious plan that calls for pooling their military and civilian resources to respond to disasters in a region beset by cyclones, earthquakes and floods.

The region has been beset by major natural disasters over the last several years, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the deadly Myanmar cyclone in May and the devastating China earthquake the same month.

Foreign ministers of 26 countries and the European Union also discussed a joint relief exercise to be held later this year.

They are gathered in Singapore for the annual security conference of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its 17 partners. The partners cover virtually half the world _ from the U.S. and EU to Russia and Australia.

The ministers were scheduled to release a statement later Thursday. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press.

"They recognized that military assets and personnel, in full support and not in place of civilian responses, have played an increasingly important role in regional disaster responses," the draft said.

It says the ministers endorsed a proposal by the Philippines and the U.S. to conduct a disaster relief exercise later this year, and that potential sites and dates have been identified.

The draft says the ministers told their officials to develop guidelines for relief cooperation, and to draw up a plan aimed at coordinating training for disaster preparedness among the 27 members.

"There's certainly a knowledge that we got to be all together and be better prepared to help out in a crisis in any one of our countries," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.

Peters said countries would be better off responding collectively, rather than individually, to crisis.

The plan will also explore the feasibility of deploying military assets to bolster civilian operations, it said.

"This should be bilateral, voluntary, and only a tool that could be called upon for use between" the countries affected and countries offering help, it said.

This clause was aimed at putting at ease countries that fear allowing foreign troops, even for relief work, would jeopardize their sovereignty.

Myanmar's ruling junta refused to allow foreign militaries, including U.S. troops, to provide help after Cyclone Nargis, and faced international criticism for its slow response. More than 84,000 people died.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is attending the conference, slammed Myanmar for refusing the help at first when several countries including the United States were "sitting literally offshore" with ships loaded with aid.

"When you have a situation (with) the junta refusing to let people in need be helped, you wonder how can the international community stand by and allow that to happen," she said.

Rice praised ASEAN for forcing Myanmar's doors to open to aid.

In contrast, China moved swiftly when its Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces were jolted by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that killed 70,000 people and left 18,000 missing in May.

China deployed 130,000 troops, who by this month had repaired more than 9,196 miles of roads, installed 220,000 shelters and relocated more than 1.4 million people, according to the government.

The importance of military operations in disaster relief was made clear after the 2004 tsunami, when the U.S. rushed troops, ships, aid and helicopters to Indonesia, the country hardest hit with more than 160,000 killed in Aceh province.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Eileen Ng and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.