Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) here on Tuesday, the president said he was delighted the situation between Cambodia and Thailand had gradually improved.
"The situation, admittedly, has not been easy. Yet, there is a willingness on both sides to manage the dispute peacefully through dialogue, to prevent it from deteriorating, and to explore confidence building measures. That is why I have high expectation that the AMM in Bali will pave the way to conflict resolution between Thailand and Cambodia," said the president.
On the South China Sea dispute, Yudhoyono underlined the need for ASEAN members states and China to soon finalize the guidelines for the Declaration of Conduct (DoC) of the Parties in the South China Sea.
"ASEAN`s first ever Declaration on the South China Sea was issued long ago - in 1992. It took another 10 years before ASEAN and China agreed on the Declaration of Conduct. And yet, 9 years later, we still have not finalized the guidelines of the Declaration of the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea. Things do not necessarily have to be this slow," he said.
The president hoped that ASEAN Foreign Affairs Ministers would soon meet with representatives from China to step up efforts to finalize the guidelines for the DoC which would build confidence and trust among related parties.
"We need to send a strong signal to the world that the future of the South China Sea is a predictable, manageable and optimistic one. And we need to finalize the long overdue guidelines, because we need to get moving to the next phase, which is identifying elements of the Code of Conduct," he said.
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Editor: AA Ariwibowo
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
