Indonesian developments overshadow meeting

By Amit Baruah

HANOI, JULY 23. The 34th annual meeting of the Association of South-East Asian (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers, which opened here today, was overshadowed by the political turmoil in Indonesia.

The ASEAN Secretary-General, Mr. Rodolfo C. Severino, said the regional grouping was concerned by events in Jakarta. He said it was up to Indonesia to address its own problems.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr. Alwi Shihab, has stayed away from the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and Jakarta is represented by a Foreign Ministry official - a sign, if one were needed - of Indonesia's complete preoccupation with itself.

Talking to presspersons, the Singapore Foreign Minister, Mr. S. Jayakumar, said Indonesia was going through an ``extremely critical period''. The outcome of developments in that country was in the hands of the Indonesian people, he said.

``As a close neighbour of Indonesia, we are naturally concerned. We would like to see, of course, stability and eventually the restoration of national unity and return of investor confidence. I think it's important for the people of Indonesia.....it's important....for ASEAN and for the rest of the region,'' Mr. Jayakumar stated.

The Foreign Minister said he would not be surprised if ASEAN Ministers sought an update from their Indonesian colleague on the situation in that country.

``I don't think it is for ASEAN to tell Indonesia what it should do, but I think we should be concerned as to how events transpire and what is the eventual outcome because as I said it does have an impact upon the region and for ASEAN,'' he said.

In his inaugural address to the meeting, the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Mr. Phan Van Khai, called upon the regional group to ``proactively settle remaining disputes and differences and prevent heightened tensions in the region, and at the same time help restore and maintain socio-political and macro-economic stability in each country''.

Mr. Khai's call for proactive settlement of regional disputes is being seen as a reference to the dispute over the Spratlys and Paracels in the South China Sea, in which China is a major player. ASEAN has been discussing a possible code of conduct for the South China Sea, but so far no agreement has been reached.

The Prime Minister also referred to the ups and downs in the region and the adverse consequences of the 1997-98 financial- currency crisis.

``.....We are fully aware of the costs of socio- political and macro-economic instability that each individual country and the whole region have to pay. It suffices to say that socio-political and macro-economic stability is a prerequisite for each country's sustainable development and enhanced international cooperation,'' Mr. Khai maintained.

The Prime Minister also stressed the basic principles of ASEAN cooperation, which stress non-interference in the internal affairs of individual member countries. Unity in diversity is a valuable lesson for ASEAN. Similar cultures and shared interests in peace, stability and development represent a cohesion factor binding all ASEAN member countries closely together.

``In addition, while the tradition of flexibility and adaptability inherent in South-East Asia's civilisation has given birth to the ASEAN way embodied in such principles as consensus, mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs of one another, we never let down friends in trouble.''

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