Asia’s main security forum to be strengthened
Asia’s main security forum will be strengthened to undertake
‘concrete and practical cooperation’ against challenges that could
undermine peace and stability, a draft document said on Sunday.
The 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meets in Singapore Thursday
after the conclusion of talks by foreign ministers from the 10-member
Association of South-East Asian Nations.
‘Despite the ARF’s best efforts and its successful endeavours,
security threats still exist,’ a draft of the declaration said. ‘Such
challenges are increasingly multi-faceted and non-traditional in nature
which require our common resolve to address them.’
In addition to the ASEAN members, the ARF includes Australia,
Bangladesh, Canada, China, European Union, India Japan, South Korea,
Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sri Lanka,
Timor Leste and the United States.
North Korea and Myanmar top the concerns of the forum, with the
highlight bing a meeting of foreign ministers from the six nations
negotiating North Korea’s denuclearization.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to meet her North
Korean counterpart for the first time. Also participating in the
informal talks on the sidelines of the ARF are Russia, South Korea,
China and Japan.
North Korea’s plan to sign ASEAN’s non-aggression treaty at the
conclusion of the ministerial meeting was viewed as a positive signal
reflecting Pyongyang’s willingness to resolve the nuclear dispute
amicably.
They have expressed their intention to be included in a regional
scheme that ‘abides by a principle of living and resolving conflicts
peacefully,’ an analyst said.
While ASEAN is expected to take a soft approach in dealing with
recalcitrant Myanmar, other members of the ARF which have long regarded
the grouping as ineffective have no such qualms.
The junta’s initial refusal to allow foreign aid or workers into the
country following the devastating Cyclone Nargis or free opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest infuriated some in the
international community.
ASEAN is moving a step closer to turning itself into a United
Nations-like legal body, setting up a new committee of permanent
reprentatives by January 1, 2009.Each country will appoint an ambassador
to the grouping, a move that will hopefully speed up the decision-making
process and actions, said Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo.
‘Depending on the working style of each working senate, many of the
decisions could be passed through the offices of the permanent
representatives,’ said ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
The committee is part of ASEAN’s efforts toward greater integration.
Yeo said he was confident the ASEAN Charter, which turns the
organization into a legal entity with more international clout, will be
ratified by all members by the end of the year.
Only Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia have not signed the
document.
AFP |