Malaysian Foreign Minister: ASEAN Still Is An Important Block At The Global Level

VIENTIANE - The presence of world powers at the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) and a number of related meetings in Laos, clearly shows that ASEAN is still an important block at the international level.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said the presence of ASEAN dialogue partners and non-dialogous partners proved the importance of ASEAN in shaping the current global geopolitical landscape.

"The presence of ASEAN's Partnership Dialogue countries and other external partners at the ASEAN conference is a manifestation of ASEAN's ability as a 'linker force', which is able to bring world and regional forces to the negotiating table," he told Malaysian media after the 57th AMM ended on Saturday (27/7).

"ASEAN is a very important block that can form world politics and determine the direction of the world," he continued.

Meanwhile, Mohamad, who led the Malaysian delegation to the AMM meeting since it started last Wednesday (24/7), also expressed his gratitude that all 19 meetings of ASEAN members, as well as nine meetings with other ASEAN countries and various dialogues, had gone well.

The 57th AMM was attended by all foreign ministers of ASEAN member countries except Vietnam, represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet, while Myanmar was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aung Kyaw Moe.

The meeting was also attended by foreign ministers Mitra Dialogue ASEAN, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Minister David Lemmy, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell-Fontelles.

In addition to the ASEAN Conference with interested countries, he said, Malaysia also held bilateral meetings with leaders from Australia, China, Canada, the European Union, India, Norway, South Korea, Turkey, and the UK.

He said a number of important things such as the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ), the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR), and the South China Sea issue, as well as regional and international political issues, had been discussed and agreed upon by member states.

He said all ASEAN member states had agreed that Southeast Asia would remain a nuclear-free region free and free from the threat of nuclear weapons.

ASEAN juga mendesak negara-negara yang memiliki senjata nuklir untuk menandatangani 'Perjanjian Zona Bebas Senjata Nuklir Asia Tenggara' dalam upaya mencapai kesepahaman bersama di kawasan ini, katanya.

Regarding AICHR, Mohamad said the issue of atrocities against the Palestinian people and the conflict in Myanmar had been intensely discussed.

"Like other ASEAN friends, Malaysia wants atrocities against the Palestinian people to be stopped, as well as the return of democracy to the Myanmar people by holding free elections with the participation of all interested parties," he said.

Meanwhile, regarding the issue of the South China Sea, Mohamad said: "Alhamdulillah, China has reached an agreement with the Philippines regarding the South China Sea to defuse the situation. These ASEAN countries want to see the South China Sea as a free sea."

Overall, Mohamad said Malaysia had played an active role in finding ASEAN consensus on issues of common interest.

"This is evidenced by the proposals of Malaysia which have been adopted by other ASEAN member countries," he said.

He said Malaysia would continue to fully support the leadership of ASEAN by Laos, and cooperate with Laos and other ASEAN countries to continue to advance in building the ASEAN Community.

"Considering that this country will lead ASEAN in 2025, Malaysia will continue to maintain this positive momentum, and ensure that Malaysia's voice continues to sound loud on the international stage," he said.