Leading ASEAN

I wish to commend The Jakarta Post for its continuing interest to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) affairs and the role of Indonesia in ASEAN. In its Aug. 9 editorial, once again the Post presented insightful views, through which the challenges facing ASEAN were identified. The editorial follows the excellent coverage given by the Post to the 37th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting/PMC/ARF last month.

However, there were references made about the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) which were factually incorrect and would represent a false perception to the public. The editorial made a hasty judgement by stating that the Plan of Action of the ASC has been "so heavily watered down that the document had virtually been turned into a worthless scrap of paper."

In any process of negotiation, it is only natural for ideas to evolve. When Indonesia presented the draft Plan of Action for the first time, bold and visionary ideas were deliberately introduced to stimulate responses and thoughts from other ASEAN countries about how to move ASEAN's political and security cooperation forward. After all, the envisioned ASC was to address the challenges of 2020 and that, therefore, we should not be straight-jacketed to think in terms of what are "doable" in 2004.

It would have been utterly irresponsible if ASEAN was to limit its capacity to think innovatively and with vision, in accordance with the challenges of the future. In fact, after an intensive process of negotiation, ASEAN Foreign Ministers were able to agree on the draft Plan of Action of the ASC. A Plan of Action which left intact the bold and visionary ideas that Indonesia first introduced.

It is true that the document itself would still be treated as confidential until it is adopted by the leaders in their Vientiane Summit in November this year. But, please rest assured that the ideas incorporated in the document still represent a visionary, coherent, and realistic ASEAN.

Moreover, the elements included thus far in the document are not exhaustive. The document is open for new ideas and activities, which may be proposed by any member country. And the implementation of the Plan of Action will be a permanent agenda in the ASEAN miniterial meetings. On its part, Indonesia will consistently pursue this matter.

The document is definitely not considered to be "a worthless scrap of paper" by the international community. It is worth mentioning that even the international community considers the document as a ground-breaking and extra ordinary achievement for ASEAN. It was clearly voiced by a number of important countries during the ASEAN Regional Forum last July in Jakarta.

Of course, it remains a huge task for us to translate those plans into real actions. Indonesia is currently turning its diplomatic energy on the reform of ASEAN's institutional framework, including the idea of an ASEAN Charter, in order to ensure that ASEAN has the means to realize the vision of an ASEAN Community. This is exactly what we strive for -- given the importance of a strong, cohesive and effective ASEAN for our shared future. But while we recognize the need for ASEAN to translate words into actions, it would not be wise for us to habitually talk ourselves down.

MARTY NATALEGAWA, Director General for ASEAN Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta