ASEAN Foreign Ministers Discuss Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi chaired a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers to discuss the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) in Jakarta, today on Tuesday.

“Colleagues, welcome back to Jakarta,” said Retno in her greeting.

The discussion on SEANWFZ is the first agenda of the 56th ASEAN Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) in Jakarta which was attended by 10 member countries plus Timor Leste as an observer. However, representatives of Myanmar were not present at the meeting.

In her welcoming speech, Retno invited the foreign ministers to safeguard Southeast Asia as a nuclear weapon-free area to avoid a global disaster.

“Maintaining peace and stability in the region is our priority. This is our foundation for turning this region into an Epicentrum of Growth,” she emphasized.

The foreign minister said that SEANWFZ had contributed to global disarmament and the non-proliferation regime. However, 25 years after signing the Protocol to the SEANWFZ Treaty, no nuclear-weapon nation has signed it.

“We must come as a united front before a Nuclear Weapon State. Only then can we forge a clearer path to a region free of nuclear weapons,” he stressed. (L/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)