Asean diplomats agree to extend nuclear weapon-free zone treaty
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano speaks at the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017. (Photo from his Facebook account)
Southeast Asia’s top diplomats have agreed to extend the implementation of the Treaty of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone’s (SEANWFZ) Plan of Action (POA).
The Department Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Asean foreign ministers agreed on August 4 to extend the plan of action.
“Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano chaired the Meeting of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) Commission, which reached the decision to extend the implementation of the “Plan of Action (POA) to Implement the SEANWFZ Treaty” through 2022,” the DFA said in a statement.
The SEANWFZ Commission is composed of foreign ministers of the 10 member states of the Asean with the task of overseeing the implementation of the SEANWFZ Treaty.
The five-year POA of the SEANWFZ Treaty, which was adopted in 2013, will expire this year.
During his intervention, Cayetano reiterated the Philippines’ support for the full implementation of the SEANWFZ Treaty, consistent with the region’s goal of lpreserving the region as a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone and ensuring the safety of the peoples of Asean.
On Saturday, Asean foreign ministers expressed “grave concern” over the rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula over Pyongyang’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
The diplomats “strongly” urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to immediately comply fully with its obligations under all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. /atm
