ASEAN gives green light to RI proposal<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Phnom Penh<\/p>\n
Indonesia has received a green light from the rest of the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) member countries to
\nfurther discuss the security community concept, proposed during
\nthe ministerial meeting here on Monday.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on
\nMonday that all ASEAN members welcomed the idea and suggested
\nmore meetings be arranged to deliberate the concept.<\/p>\n
"The member countries were receptive to the concept and
\nsuggested more meetings and time to think this idea through,"
\nHassan said after attending the ASEAN ministerial meeting (AMM)
\nhere.<\/p>\n
He said there was a degree of comfort among ASEAN members to
\nrecognize that there were domestic security problems among them
\nthat could harm security in the region.<\/p>\n
"We have to admit that many times there have been an exchange
\nof words between ASEAN member countries over security issues that
\nmakes ASEAN look ugly and we need a kind of mechanism to deal
\nwith those problems among ourselves," he said.<\/p>\n
Hassan said that Indonesia was aiming to finalize some of the
\nelements of the concept for the ASEAN leaders to agree upon in
\nthe upcoming ASEAN Summit on Bali.<\/p>\n
"The concept will be our main agenda during our chairmanship
\nof ASEAN next year," the minister added.<\/p>\n
Several elements of the concept, such as the need to enhance
\npolitical and security cooperation, will be mentioned in the
\nJoint Communique of AMM, an official said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia proposed the idea of an ASEAN security community
\nconcept during the meeting here, before it assumes the ASEAN
\npresidency. The concept emulates a road map for the region to be
\nfree of potential conflict by 2020.<\/p>\n
Hassan underlined that the 36-year-old association should have
\nmatured enough to discuss various security issues such as illicit
\ndrug trafficking, small arms smuggling and other transnational
\ncrimes that serve terrorism and separatism in several member
\ncountries of the regional grouping.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were involved in a heated
\ndebate concerning terrorism, with the neighboring countries
\nrepeatedly accusing Indonesia of harboring terrorist leaders,
\nsuch as Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. The minister said that the issue
\nreflected the degree of cohesion in ASEAN and said that the
\nsecurity concept aimed at addressing these kinds of
\n"nontraditional" threats in the region.<\/p>\n
He asserted that the concept was not meant to interfere with
\neach other's domestic affairs, nor suggested a defense pact for
\nthe region. He underlined that the concept was even broader than
\nthat.<\/p>\n
"For example, with the concept we should have a conflict
\nresolution mechanism among ourselves, and maybe in turn we could
\nbuild a dispute settlement mechanism in the region," the minister
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
To discuss the concept, the ASEAN ministers are slated to have
\nanother meeting on Tuesday, before the closing of the 36th ASEAN
\nMinisterial Meeting.<\/p>\n
A series of meetings will follow the talks on the security
\nconcept in August and the final senior officials' meeting is
\nslated to be held in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, in September<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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