Forum provides measure of trust
Forum provides measure of trust
Ten years ago, members of the Association of South east Asian
Nations set up a subsidiary called the ASEAN Regional Forum.
ARF, as it has unfortunately come to be known, has the vague
mission of hosting meetings of the countries involved in the
security of the ASEAN region. There was no grand vision back in
1994, but the ARF has become one of the most important ASEAN-
sponsored groups.
ASEAN itself is designed to hold together 10 diverse nations
by non-interference in one another's business. ARF holds the feet
of each member to the fire in an attempt to create trust and
peace through openness.
Ministers of its 24 member countries are preparing for the
anniversary meeting next month in Indonesia with an important new
member and an enlarged responsibility.
The outgoing government in India correctly dropped its
unwarranted objection to membership by Pakistan.
Pakistan is a frontline nation in the war on terrorism, and
brings much needed experience and information to the Jakarta
meetings in late June.
The other troubling dispute near the top of the ARF agenda is
North Korea. Thailand was instrumental in convincing Pyongyang to
join the ARF at the Bangkok meeting in 2000.
Even getting Pyongyang to send the foreign minister to ARF
meetings has been a trial. Indonesia hopes to convince Paek Nam-
sun to show up next month.
The advantages for North Korea seem obvious. Yet the Kim Jong-
il dictatorship seems oblivious to the desire of all Asia-Pacific
countries to welcome a peaceful North Korea into their midst.
The ARF is not just another excuse for Asia-Pacific leaders to
get together and have pictures taken for the TV news and front
pages back home. The forum has an agenda, which is to promote
peace and cooperation through open discussion and -- as the
diplomats put it -- "frank" exchanges.
There is a time for consensus, but not at ARF meetings. Forum
members must confront the tough issues head-on, even at the cost
of public disagreement. -- Bangkok Post