A Call for Peace as Asean Deals With Disputes

Jakarta Globe, Tito Summa Siahaan, May 12, 2014

Asean leaders, from left: Philippines President Benigno Aquino, Singapore Prime
 Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana,
Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Myanmar
 President Thein Sein, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak, Cambodia Prime Minister
 Hun Sen, Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Laos Prime Minister
 Thongsing Thammavong pose for the group photo after the opening ceremony of the
24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Naypyidaw, Myanmar
 on May 11, 2014. Myanmar hosts the ASEAN Summit in Naypyidaw for the first time
 since it joined the ASEAN community in 1997 and the theme for its Chairmanship of
 ASEAN is ‘Moving Forward in Unity to a Peaceful and Prosperous Community’. (EPA
Photo/Lynn Bo Bo)

Naypyidaw. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has reminded his colleagues from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations about the importance of having a legally binding treaty to prevent conflicts in the region.

“Through Asean cooperation we have been able to develop a regional architecture based on norms and principles, and one major step in this undertaking is the declaration of the East Asia Summit on the principal of mutually beneficial relations, or the Bali Principles,” Yudhoyono in his speech at the plenary session of the 24th Asean Summit in Myanmar on Sunday.

The Bali Principles, or Bali Concord III, contain a road map to enhance the Asean community’s three pillars of the economy, socioculture and political-security. It was signed by the Asean heads of state during the 19th Summit in Bali in 2011.

“Bearing in mind current regional and global development, I think it is time for us to make the declaration legally binding and apply it to the wider region,” Yudhoyono said.

“This is what I called a proposal of Indo-Pacific treaty of friendship and cooperation. Because of the urgent need of such treaty, I earnestly suggest that we task our foreign ministers to follow up on this proposal so that we can make substantial early progress toward its realization,” he said.

The 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc has created several legal instruments, including the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), to ensure peaceful settlement of disputes and avoid the use of force among signatory states.

However, recent developments suggest that potential sources of conflict may come from outside Asean, with Asean member states such as Vietnam and the Philippines engaged in hostile standoffs with China over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

U Thein Sein, the president of Myanmar and the Asean chair, urged Asean states to respond to global issues in accordance with the Bali Concord III.

Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia’s foreign minister, said another convention, the Indo-Pacific Treaty, aimed to “spread the spirit of peace” already shared among Asean members to the wider region. He added that the treaty would involve major powers from the Indian and Pacific oceans.

“Indonesia connects the Indian and Pacific oceans, so such a treaty is important for Indonesia,” Marty said.

Yudhoyono said it was important to realize the Asean Political and Security Community to “increase our collective capacity to respond to security challenges.”

“We can also develop a common position on peacefully managing those challenges in accordance with international laws and without resorting to military means,” he said, adding the realization of Asean Political and Security Community would help Asean better manage the South China Sea disputes and contribute positively to resolving other challenges.

Yudhoyono stressed the need for a peaceful and stable region to the further transformation of Asean, noting that Asean had managed to reduce poverty, increase gross domestic product and rise to a new level of prosperity.

“[A] challenge ahead for us is to ensure equity in the distribution of prosperity among our people, and in this regard we must accelerate the implementation of the master plan on Asean connectivity by enhancing connectivity at all levels,” Yudhoyono said.

Asean has an objective to double the regional GDP and to halve poverty by 2030, which must be achieved in order to make the region more prosperous, ensure inclusive development and sustainable growth, “and above all, we will make our Asean community a sustainable and enduring achievement,” the president said.

Asean’s GDP was $2.31 trillion in 2012 from $606.4 billion in 2000, while the poverty rate in 2010 was 15.3 percent, down from 33 percent in 2000.

Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivers a speech at his
 lecture event in Tokyo on December 13, 2013. He presided over his last Asean
Summit meeting this past weekend. (Reuters Photo/To

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