Australia agrees on TAC

Australia agrees on TAC

AUSTRALIA: Australia will join a new East Asia Summit later this year, foreign minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday, after bowing to regional pressure and agreeing to sign a mandatory peace pact.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting in Laos confirmed that Australia would be an "inaugural participant" in the summit to be held in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in December, Downer said in a statement.

"Australia looks forward to making a constructive contribution to the East Asia Summit," he said of the gathering of leaders from Southeast Asia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

The invitation from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations came after Australia agreed to accede to a 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) which prohibits the use of force in the settlement of regional disputes and binds members from interfering in the internal affairs of ASEAN countries.

ASEAN had insisted that Australia, keen for a stronger voice in Asian diplomacy and seeking wider trade ties, sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation before Canberra was invited to the summit. -- Reuters