ASEAN-mixture of interests

Thailand: The ASEAN Regional Forum get together here the foreign ministries of the bloc and other 16 countries plus the European Union in a debate focused on security issues.

The Forum (ARF-English Acronym) arrived to its 16 session with an agenda marked by outstanding currently items like situation in Korea Peninsula, terrorism, environment and human and drug traffic, among others.

The meeting took place after signature of the announced Friendship and Cooperation Treaty (FCT) between the Association of South Eastern Asian Nations (ASEAN) and United States represented by Foreign Minister Hillary Clinton.

Phuket, souther Thai island venue of the meeting, left behind its tourist background and emerged armored with thousand soldiers and policemen aimed at protecting guest of Bangkok government leading the annual ASEAN meeting.

Founded in 1994 ARF join the 10 ASEAN nations: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Filipinas, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with those of the European Union and Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea and North korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan,, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Timor Lester and United States.

The issues of debates and presence of so many heavy weight of the world arena turned the meeting into a focus of attention of observers in different areas of the world which are commenting Thursday Hillary Clinton declarations on Korea and Iran, as version of the well known policy of stick and carrot.

In the context of meetings between foreign ministries that followed ASEAN Ministerial meeting Thursday Clinton hold talks with his peers from China, Russia, Japan and South Korea over nuclear dispute with North Korea. Phuket, Prensa Latina