Indonesia steps up ASEAN's commitment to denuclearisation
Indonesia, as the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, is pushing the region to become a nuclear-free bloc amid geopolitical tensions that threaten ASEAN's commitments on denuclearisation.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (C) attends the Conference on Disarmament meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 27, 2023.(Photo: Tempco)
Jakarta(VNA) - Indonesia, as the rotating chair ofASEAN this year, is pushing the region to become a nuclear-free bloc amidgeopolitical tensions that threaten ASEAN's commitments on denuclearisation.
The country has started negotiations with the five partners of the bloc which are nuclear-armed states, namely China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, to sign the Protocol to the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-FreeZone (SEANWFZ Treaty). China was the first among the countries toexpress willingness to sign the protocol.
Inhis recent statement, former Indonesian Ambassador to Chile Aloysius Lele Madja said China’splan to sign the protocol will be “very beneficial to ASEAN”, and may promptother countries to sign it.
SEANWFZ Treaty, which also known as the Bangkok Treaty, wassigned by all ASEAN members in 1995, committing not to develop, manufacture orotherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, station ortransport nuclear weapons, or test or use nuclear weapons.
They also committed not to discharge radioactive material orwaste into the sea, into the atmosphere or on land within the zone. ASEANmembers can only use nuclear material and facilities “exclusively for peacefulpurposes” and any nuclear energy programme needs to undergo a rigorous nuclearsafety assessment conforming to guidelines and standards recommended by theInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh urged ASEAN member states to bolster their partnership in regional nuclear safety and security during a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 30.
Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son suggested ASEAN promote the role and values of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) while addressing a meeting of the SEANWFZ Treaty Commission in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on August 2.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will start negotiations with nuclear-weapon states in signing the Protocol to the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ Treaty), according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi of Indonesia - the country chairing the association this year.
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Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (C) attends the Conference on Disarmament meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 27, 2023.(Photo: Tempco) 
