"On the South China Sea issue, ministers have agreed that the adoption of the Declaration of Conduct (DoC) between ASEAN and China last July has created a conducive situation and built confidence among related parties in the area," said Djoko after attending the 6th ASEAN Political Security Community Council in Nusa Dua earlier in the day.
About ASEAN`s efforts to get the world`s nuclear weapon states, namely the United States, England, France, Russia and China (together referred to as the P5 group) , to respect and make a commitment not to violate the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ), Djoko said negotiations between ASEAN and the P5 had run smoothly during the past months.
"After a hiatus of 10 years , negotiations about the P5 acceding to the SEANWFZ were resumed this year," he said.
Earlier, Indonesian Foreign Ministry`s Director General for ASEAN Cooperation Djauhari Oratmangun said there were no more barriers for the P5 to accede to the SEANWFZ Treaty.
"What is happening now is the two sides are still negotiating to arrive at a common understanding about the contents of the treaty. So this will be only a matter of time," Djauhari said.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry`s Director for ASEAN Political and Security Cooperation, Ade Padmo Sarwono, said Indonesia and ASEAN would continue to push the P5 countries to respect and apeed up the process of their accession to the SEANWFZ Protocol.(*)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
