JAKARTA - A number of countries are scheduled to sign the accession to the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), as ASEAN will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the TAC which is a series of the '59th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post-Ministerial Conferences' (AMM/PMC) and related meetings held since the beginning of this week.
Speaking at a press conference at the International Media Center, Manila on Thursday evening, Philippine Foreign Minister Maria Theresa P. Lazaro revealed that there were four countries that would sign the TAC accession on Friday.
"Tomorrow (today), we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. We will welcome four new member countries that have a high level of agreement, namely Sweden, Poland, Romania, and Lithuania represented by their respective foreign ministers, and hold the first high-level conference of member countries, the first meeting since the Treaty was signed in 1976," said Foreign Minister Lazaro.
"This conference will focus on three thematic sessions, namely conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy, maritime security and cooperation, and overcoming emerging challenges," he added.
Foreign Minister Lazaro said, "The Philippines is honored to lead this important milestone as the ASEAN Chair and is committed to maintaining our leadership momentum."
To note, the TAC was first signed by Indonesian President Soeharto, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn and Thai Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj in Bali on February 24, 1976.
Over time, TAC has undergone three amendments through protocols to open up to parties outside ASEAN to join, namely the First Protocol (1987) opened the opportunity for countries outside the Southeast Asian Region to participate and ratify TAC, the Second Protocol (1998) allowed regional organizations of sovereign countries to join, and the Third Protocol (2010) provided adjustments related to accession for non-regional countries.
So far, 59 countries have signed the TAC, with the latest being Uzbekistan in November last year. This number will increase with the joining of four countries today. In addition, all permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5), the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France have also signed the TAC accession.
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