ASEAN to meets to admit Vietnam, study prospects for Myanmar
ASEAN to meets to admit Vietnam, study prospects for Myanmar
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): ASEAN is to study "positively" Myanmar's request to join the grouping during next week's meeting in Brunei which will see Vietnam admitted as the group's seventh member, a top diplomat said yesterday.
Malaysia's foreign ministry secretary-general Ahmad Kamil Jaafar said while ASEAN had set no timetable for Myanmar's entry, it had a target to have an "ASEAN-10" -- an enlarged 10-nation group -- also embracing Cambodia and Laos "by the turn of the century."
"It is to fulfill the aspiration and wishes of our ASEAN founding fathers," Kamil said in an interview.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
"The prospects of an ASEAN 10 are great both in terms of greater political stability in the region as well as in the enlarged ASEAN's economic potentials and regional prosperity," Kamil said.
Malaysia, for its part, would consider Myanmar's interest in acceding to its Treaty of Amity and Cooperation positively, said Kamil, who has participated in ASEAN's annual ministerial meetings for the past seven years.
"The Treaty provides the mechanism for the conduct of relations and is meant for the region of Southeast Asia. We cannot say no to countries in the region which want to subscribe to it," he said before departing for Brunei at the head of a Malaysian delegation to the ASEAN senior officials meeting.
The three-day senior officials meeting precedes the annual conference of ASEAN's foreign ministers.
"It will make nonsense of that treaty if Myanmar is denied entry," Kamil said, while welcoming the recent release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying he believed ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement had been a contributory factor.
"But we should not dictate to Burma (Myanmar) its internal policies as Malaysia does not want others to dictate what kind of democracy we should have," Kamil said, in dismissing the isolation policy preached by the Western powers.
Acceding to the 1976 treaty, which sets a code of conduct for signatories, is a prerequisite for full membership in ASEAN, formed in 1967 as a bulwark against communism during the Vietnam War.
Laos and Vietnam -- which is to be admitted at the forthcoming meeting as ASEAN's seventh member -- signed the treaty in July 1992, to signal an end to more than a decade of hostility between Indochina and the ASEAN states.
Cambodia acceded to the treaty on July 2.
"A concept paper on how to enhance security in the region will be presented at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting," Kamil said, referring to the security forum that follows the ministerial meeting.
The forum, scheduled for Aug. 1, will be followed by ASEAN's meeting with its dialog partners -- Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.
The 18-member ARF, established last year in Bangkok, groups ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand with major Pacific powers among them China, Vietnam, Russia, and the United States.
Brunei, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand claim all or part of the Spratlys
"We have one common perception: that is not to destabilize the South China Sea, which is one of the world's busiest sea bases, not least because our region is the world's fastest growth area. There is no need to create waves."