T

he so-called P5 group of nuclear nations have agreed to consider ASEAN’s invitation to join its Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), according to a top Indonesian diplomat.

“Now that the P5 and ASEAN have the same draft to discuss, we hope we can move quickly to the signing stage,” Foreign Ministry chief for ASEAN cooperation Djauhari Oratmangun told the media here on Tuesday.

Observers have praised ASEAN under Indonesia’s leadership for its progress in persuading the P5 — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — to consider becoming parties to the nuclear weapon-free zone.

Nyoman Sudira, an international security expert at Parahyangan University in Bandung, West Java, said the nuclear weapon-free zone might be a basis the region could use to build stronger ties with the more-developed countries.

“This is a major step toward developing strategic cooperation with the P5, because inevitably, ASEAN countries are still dependent on the developed countries in the fields of politics, security and economics.”

Realizing a broader nuclear-free zone is critical for ASEAN to prove its principles of non-interference and peace to the world, and to ensure that future conflicts will be resolved peacefully and without nuclear weapons, Nyoman said.

“The P5 countries will eventually have to respect a nuclear weapon-free zone in ASEAN. They have to accept the fact that this is no longer the era of the Cold War. The SEANWFZ would be a strong measure to prevent advanced countries from using force, including nuclear weapons.”

ASEAN officials met with their counterparts from P5 countries on Monday to discuss ways for the P5 to review the SEANWFZ invitation in the near future to accelerate negotiations.

It is expected that the P5 nations will sign the SEANWFZ protocols, which will be legally binding, ensuring that the five nuclear states will recognize ASEAN’s nuclear weapon-free zone.

The SEANWFZ Treaty was signed by all 10 ASEAN leaders in Bangkok, Thailand, on Dec. 15, 1995.

Signatory countries must confirm that they will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any party to the treaty, nor use or threaten to use nuclear weapons within the SEANWFZ.

Nyoman said that all ASEAN countries should commit to expanding the zone together.

“Although some of them have problems with China, we hope that it will not affect the progress of the treaty,” he added.

Hikmahanto Juwana, an international relations expert from the University of Indonesia said that the P5 countries would also commit to stopping nuclear weapons proliferation and testing in Southeast Asia if they sign the protocols.

“However, the challenge lies for ASEAN countries on how to convince the countries outside the P5 that have nuclear weapons, such as India and Pakistan, to respect to the SEANWFZ, ” he said.

From the perspective of international security, Hikmahanto added, progress on SEANWFZ would not guarantee the peaceful resolution of competing claims in the South China Sea, although countries are still working on a code of conduct.