Foreign Minister Retno Asks US To Participate In Maintaining Indo-Pacific Stability And Peace And Access ASEAN Nuclear Free Contract

ASEAN-AS PMC 2023 in Jakarta. (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi asked the United States to participate in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, including accessing nuclear-free traffic, while chairing the ASEAN - US Post-Ministerial Conference meeting attended by his colleague Antony Blinken in Jakarta, Friday.

Foreign Minister Retno said that this year ASEAN began to mainstream the implementation of AOIP (ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific) with all partners, including the US. According to him, strategic approaches and dialogue habits must always be upheld by ASEAN and AS.

"We believe the US will continue to support ASEAN centrality and strengthen ASEAN's position as the center of growth. Collaboration is the only compass towards an inclusive regional architecture," said Foreign Minister Retno in a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday, July 14.

Foreign Minister Retno further said, ASEAN is open to all countries that want to increase interaction with the Indo-Pacific. For this reason, AOIP was made, as a joint effort, to encourage concrete cooperation that is beneficial to the people in the four priority areas, namely maritime, connectivity, SDGs and the economy. This cooperation area is similar to the one in the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

"Four areas that symbolize our common interests and unite, not divide us. Four areas that not only strengthen ties in the Indo-Pacific but also increase trust. Therefore, US support for AOIP is very crucial," said Foreign Minister Retno.

He emphasized that peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific are not only regional interests, but also the world. As ASEAN's comprehensive strategic partner, Washington, according to him, plays an important role in realizing this.

"ASEAN wants the US to become an important contributor to the net contributor in the Indo-Pacific," said Foreign Minister Retno.

In this meeting, ASEAN appreciated the US commitment to increase concrete ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership cooperation, including support for the implementation of AOIP

In addition, this meeting also emphasized the need to intensify economic cooperation through increasing business interactions, increasing MSME capacity, infrastructure development for connectivity and digital technology cooperation.

It is also discussed the importance of cooperation in the field of climate change and energy transition, including the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized support for ASEAN's centrality in maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity.

In this meeting, ASEAN countries invited the US to access the SEANFWZ Trakat Protocol (Traktat of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Areas), to create nuclear-free areas.