She conveyed this at a meeting of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Commission (SEANWFZ Commission) as the first agenda item in the series of the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (57th AMM) in Vientiane, Laos, on Wednesday.
"The withdrawal of several key countries possessing nuclear weapons from important international agreements increasingly distances us from the ideal of a world free from nuclear weapons," Marsudi noted in a statement from her ministry.
She drew attention to several international agreements that key countries are starting to abandon, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
According to Marsudi, a reduction in commitment from those countries will negatively impact regional stability, including that of Southeast Asia.
"Therefore, ASEAN countries, whatever challenges they face, must remain firm in their commitment to making Southeast Asia a nuclear weapons-free region," she emphasized.
Marsudi also underlined the importance of ASEAN urging nuclear weapons owners to fulfill their commitment to global disarmament and non-proliferation efforts.
"ASEAN needs to collaborate with other nuclear weapons-free regions," she stressed.
To this end, she expressed Indonesia's support for implementing training between ASEAN and OPANAL, the organization for nuclear disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean, to discuss the issue of reservations in May 2024.
In addition to discussing nuclear disarmament, the SEANWFZ Commission meeting also expressed support for Timor-Leste's accession to the SEANWFZ Treaty, which is expected to be completed this year.
The commission also welcomed various progress in implementing the SEANWFZ Treaty Action Plan for the 2023–2027 period.
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Translator: Nabil Ihsan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Anton Santoso
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