ASEAN officials deliberate on security issue

ASEAN officials deliberate on security issue

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met this week to prepare some of the main events on their agenda, including establishing a deputy secretary general post and discussions on regional security.

The two-day meeting, which began on Monday, discussed the preparations for an upcoming seminar on Confidence Building Measures in Tokyo on Jan 18-19 and other practical implementations of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

"Indonesia will present a paper in Tokyo and suggest possible steps which could be taken by the ARF which generally reflect the views of ASEAN," said Izhar Ibrahim, who represented Indonesia in this week's meeting here.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

He added that the seminar in Tokyo will discuss what concrete steps ARF member states can take to enhance security and stability in the region.

Separately, informed sources told The Jakarta Post yesterday that proposals to increase confidence building measures include a dialog on security perceptions.

This is meant to foster the understanding of each state's respective perceived security situations and thus alleviate the mutual suspicion that has often characterized past relations.

Another measure is transparency through the publication of their respective defense white papers.

The proposal also called on greater contacts on defense matters and suggestions that all ARF members develop a standard exercise procedure which can be collectively used.

When asked about Washington's rejection of the treaty of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, Izhar said that it had been decided that Indonesia would be tasked with further explaining it to Washington.

ASEAN leaders, along with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar signed the treaty last month in Bangkok which declares the region free of nuclear weapons. Washington however has said that the treaty is "too restrictive" and refuses to sign it.

Izhar yesterday refused to describe Washington's stance as a rejection, saying that they merely had a few concerns towards it.

"We feel that there is no need for them to be concerned, and that is why we will explain it to them," he said.

He added that among the concerns was the fact that ASEAN includes the Exclusive Economic Zones in the nuclear free zone.

Izhar said he had planned to explain the position to American officials at an ASEAN-U.S. dialog which was originally planned to be held here today. The meeting was canceled because the American delegation had been prevented from leaving by the blizzard.

"If there had been a dialog, then it would have been a good opportunity to explain it to them. But since it was postponed, we'll find a another good time to explain it to U.S. side," Izhar said.

Due to the increasing workload, the ASEAN senior officials meeting also carefully deliberated the possibility of creating the post of deputy secretary general at the ASEAN secretariat.

"We have agreed to hold further consultations" Izhar said.

He explained that with the addition of Vietnam as the Association's seventh member last year, and the addition of India as a new dialog partner the secretariat's activities were increasing.

For that reason it is felt that it might be necessary for the secretary general to have a deputy to help him carry out those duties, Izhar explained. (mds)