58th AMM: SEANWFZ Committee Meets Ahead Commission Meeting

By Ahmad Erwan Othman and Ahmad Aidil Syukri Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- The Executive Committee of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Commission (SEANWFZ EXCOM) convened here on Monday to finalise key preparatory work for the SEANWFZ Commission Meeting to be held tomorrow at the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and related meetings.

Chaired by Foreign Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin, the session focused on reviewing progress in implementing the SEANWFZ Treaty’s Plan of Action.

Also discussed were the potential accession of Timor-Leste to the Treaty and the long-standing issue of securing the accession of the Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) to the Treaty’s Protocol.

“Timor-Leste’s participation will widen the geographical scope for the Treaty.

“This is one positive aspect from the participation of Timor-Leste as a new member in ASEAN,” he told reporters after the meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from all 10 ASEAN member states, while an official from Timor-Leste participated as an observer.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is scheduled to chair the SEANWFZ Commission meeting at 3.15 pm tomorrow.

The SEANWFZ Treaty, also known as the Bangkok Treaty, was signed in December 1995 in Bangkok by ASEAN member states as a commitment to preserve Southeast Asia as a region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

It came into force in March 1997. 

While all 10 ASEAN member states have ratified the Treaty, efforts to secure the signatures of the five recognised nuclear-weapon states - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States - to the Treaty’s protocol remain ongoing.

Under the protocol, each Nuclear-Weapon State (NWS) is required to respect the SEANWFZ Treaty, refrain from any act that would constitute a violation of the Treaty and its Protocol and pledge not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any state party to the Treaty, or within the zone.

According to the ASEAN website, efforts are underway to secure the accession of the NWS to the Protocol.

The 58th AMM and related meetings, held under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship for 2025 with the theme ‘Inclusivity and Sustainability’, will feature 24 ministerial-level meetings involving ASEAN Dialogue Partners and Sectoral Dialogue Partners.

The four-day high-level events are expected to bring together around 1,500 delegates, including foreign ministers from ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste, ASEAN Dialogue Partners, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) participants, Sectoral Dialogue Partners and senior ASEAN Secretariat officials.

-- BERNAMA