A binding peace agreement is necessary to deal with conflicts arising in Asia-Pacific due to territorial disputes, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has stated.

According to Indonesia’s ANTARA News, the Minister made the statement at a press conference in Jakarta on February 13, which talked about US Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming visit to Indonesia.

Marty said his country is pondering over a friendly agreement and cooperation among countries in the region, which can curb potential conflicts related to territorial disputes in the East Sea and the East China Sea.

He emphasised Indonesia will seek a change in the concept of handling territorial disputes in the region, so that potential conflicts that exist will not cause more strain in the relations between the concerned countries.

The minister said the region deals with three challenges, including a sense of distrust, territorial disputes, and changes in the region, adding that these can be solved peacefully in line with principle of discouraging the use of force through a friendly and cooperate agreement.

“This idea is still in its nascent stage. We will continue to communicate with the concerned countries, including the US," he noted.

With regard to John Kerry’s visit to his country from February 15-17, Marty said the two sides will discuss how to further promote their bilateral relations, which was elevated to comprehensive partnership in 2010.

They also hope to sign two cooperative agreements on South-South and triangular cooperation and wild animal protection and illegal smuggling prevention.-VNA