ASEAN security 'not strong enough'

ASEAN security 'not strong enough'

MANILA (AFP): Increasing armed conflict in the Korean
peninsula and between India and Pakistan are "too big" to handle
for Asia's foremost security forum, the Philippine's foreign
minister said on Sunday.

Foreign affairs secretary Domingo Siazon said the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) needed more time
to develop into a security alliance similar to that of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) before it can immediately
intervene in crises.

Clashes between India and Pakistan over Kashmir as well as the
recent naval confrontation between South and North Korea are "too
big" and "too advanced" for the ARF to handle "right now".

ARF, created in 1995, comprises the 10 ASEAN members and their
"dialog partners" -- the United States, Canada, China, Japan,
Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Russia, India and
South Korea. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.