"We are grateful that there are no inter-regional problems in Southeast Asia region, unlike East Asia and South Asia. But member countries of ASEAN still face many internal conflicts in their respective countries," he noted, after opening The 7th Southeast Asian Studies Symposium in 2018 in the Auditorium of Faculty of Medicine of University of Indonesia in Jakarta, on Thursday.
He stated that internal conflicts in ASEAN member countries are still taking place in the southern part of Philippines, southern part of Thailand, and Rohingya problem in Myanmar.
"Such conflicts seem to be difficult to resolve simultaneously in ASEAN, and we have a goal to contribute to solving the problems," he remarked.
He hoped other ASEAN member countries, which were free from internal conflicts, would be able to support the settlement of peace in the conflict-affected countries.
He exemplified that Indonesia has participated in peace efforts in Cambodia and the Philippines.
"Indonesia also had a big role in the past as it had participated in the reconciliation efforts in Cambodia and solving the Mindanao problem through implementation of meetings in Jakarta," he stated.
Therefore, meetings involving ASEAN, such as the Symposium, are expected to find a solution to the challenges faced by ASEAN.
Reported by Fransiska Ninditya
(M052/INE)
(T.M052/B/KR-BSR/A014)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
