KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 9 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Nuclear weapons have no place in the Southeast Asian region, as all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remained committed to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) Treaty, Malaysian Foreign Minister, Mohamad Hasan, said yesterday.
In his opening remarks at the SEANWFZ Commission meeting, on the sidelines of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings, Mohamad also reaffirmed ASEAN’s commitment to harness peaceful civilian applications of nuclear science, in accordance with the objectives of the SEANWFZ Treaty, in line with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
“ASEAN has made significant strides in advancing the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, particularly through ongoing cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in the fields of agriculture, medical diagnostics, food technologies, among others,” he said.
“With the existential threat to humanity that nuclear arms pose, I call upon all ASEAN member states to remain united in our pursuit of a nuclear-weapon-free Southeast Asia,” he said.
Also known as the Bangkok Treaty, the SEANWFZ Treaty was signed in Bangkok, Thailand, in Dec, 1995, by ASEAN members as a commitment to preserve Southeast Asia as a region free of nuclear weapons.– NNN-BERNAMA
