Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will start negotiation with nuclear-weapon states in signing the Protocol to the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ Treaty), Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated, Wednesday.

"Under the ASEAN Matters pillar, several issues also 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 Protocol to the SEANWFZ Treaty is also open to be signed by the five nuclear-weapon states: China, Russia, the US, the UK, and France.

China would be the first of the five countries that expressed its willingness to sign the protocol.

At the summit with ASEAN leaders held on November 21, 2022, 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, 2023.

Qin echoed China's willingness to take the lead in signing the Protocol to the SEANWFZ Treaty and work with ASEAN to advocate solidarity and win-win cooperation, jointly safeguarding regional security and stability, Chinese daily newspaper, The Global Times, reported on March 28.

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.

The PoA strengthens the region's commitment to be completely free from nuclear weapons and from the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

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

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Reporter: Shofi Ayudiana
Editor: Sri Haryati
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