ASEAN member countries on Mar. 9 agreed to boost cooperation with the UN and to intensify efforts to persuade nuclear powers to sign a protocol to ASEAN's nuclear weapon-free zone treaty.
The agreement was reached at the end of the two-day meeting of the ASEAN senior officials in Yogyakarta , Indonesia .
Director General of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s ASEAN Affairs Department Djauhari Oratmangun said that the meeting agreed that there should be a joint declaration to elevate cooperation between ASEAN and the UN to be a comprehensive partnership. The declaration is expected to be finalised when ASEAN foreign ministers meet with the UN secretary general on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly session to be held in September.
The Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty, which took effect in 1997, binds the members not to develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, nor to station or transport nuclear weapons by any means.
The treaty’s protocol is open to signing by the five nuclear powers – Britain , France , the United States , Russia and China , but none of them has so far
signed.
In May last year, during the 8th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US was ready to consult with the parties to the nuclear-weapons-free zone Southeast Asia in an effort to reach an agreement that would allow it to sign the protocol./.
The agreement was reached at the end of the two-day meeting of the ASEAN senior officials in Yogyakarta , Indonesia .
Director General of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s ASEAN Affairs Department Djauhari Oratmangun said that the meeting agreed that there should be a joint declaration to elevate cooperation between ASEAN and the UN to be a comprehensive partnership. The declaration is expected to be finalised when ASEAN foreign ministers meet with the UN secretary general on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly session to be held in September.
The Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty, which took effect in 1997, binds the members not to develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, nor to station or transport nuclear weapons by any means.
The treaty’s protocol is open to signing by the five nuclear powers – Britain , France , the United States , Russia and China , but none of them has so far
signed.
In May last year, during the 8th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US was ready to consult with the parties to the nuclear-weapons-free zone Southeast Asia in an effort to reach an agreement that would allow it to sign the protocol./.
