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.

Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (second right), issues a press statement in Jakarta on April 5. (Photo: ANTARA)

Under the ASEAN Matters pillar, one of the three priorities set by Indonesia during its 4th term as ASEAN Chair, several issues continue to be priorities and are being discussed continuously, including the signing of the SEANWFZ Protocol by nuclear weapon states (NWS), which was halted in 2012, she told the press in Jakarta.

The SEANWFZ Treaty, also known as the Bangkok Treaty, was signed by all ASEAN member states in December 1995.

The treaty stipulates that its signatories cannot develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, station or transport nuclear weapons by any means, or test or use nuclear weapons.

The diplomat said the Protocol to the SEANWFZ Treaty is also open to be signed by the five nuclear-weapon states namely China, Russia, the US, the UK, and France.

She said China would be the first of the five countries that expressed its willingness to sign the protocol, recalling that at the summit with ASEAN leaders held on November 21 last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing supports ASEAN's efforts to build a nuclear weapon-free zone and is prepared to sign the Protocol to the SEANWFZ Treaty as early as possible.

This commitment was reiterated by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang while receiving the visit of ASEAN Secretary General Kim Kao Hourn in Beijing on March 27.

According to Retno, at the meeting in Phnom Penh on August 2, 2022, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers, as the SEANWFZ Commission, agreed to extend the Plan of Action (PoA) of the SEANWFZ Treaty to the 2023-2027 period.

As the chair of ASEAN in 2023, Indonesia is committed to facilitating negotiations to find a common ground, she added.

Source: VNA