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ASEAN to combat terrorism

By P. S. Suryanarayana

PHNOM PENH NOV. 5. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has enhanced its cooperation with China as also Japan and South Korea in the campaign against terrorism, even as the issues arising out of North Korea's recent confessions about its clandestine nuclear weaponisation drive were addressed by all these countries with a sense of urgency.

Although no definitive plan was drawn up, either at the eighth ASEAN summit or during the ASEAN+3 summit here on Monday, to nullify North Korea's programme, China and the ASEAN issued a joint declaration on cooperation in the field of non-traditional security issues, which touched upon terrorism among other concerns.

While the 10-member ASEAN issued a Declaration on Terrorism to underline its commitment to combat this menace, China entered into a separate framework agreement to establish a free trade area. Japan and South Korea too held discussions with the ASEAN on a range of issues extending from free trade possibilities to a greater degree of counter-terror cooperation.

With Japan and South Korea taking the initiative to sensitise the ASEAN to the dangers of Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, China shared their concerns over the issue without, however, adopting any approach that could have led to a joint stand by the ASEAN's East Asian partners. While China's links with North Korea prevented the creation of a regional alliance against Pyongyang, Japan made clear its intention to engage the Kim Jong-il regime in a dialogue.

The most significant event on the first day was China's two-way agreement with ASEAN — the counter-terror declaration and the framework accord to set up a free trade area by 2010 in respect of the more developed member countries of the organisation and by 2015 in regard to the less developed ones.

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