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Indonesia calls on UN Security Council to keep region free of nuclear weapons
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In this file photo, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi applauds as she delivers her opening remarks on July 11, 2023, during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Courtesy of the Foreign Ministry/Pool)
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ickstarting its month-long presidency at the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the Indonesian delegation has urged the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to ensure that Southeast Asia remains free of nuclear weapons, and called for a more efficient global discourse mechanism on the issue.
With the rapid emergence of new military technology and an ever-divided geopolitical landscape, a more responsive effort toward disarmament is paramount, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said during a high-level CD conference in Geneva earlier this week.
“Indonesia urges all nuclear-weapon states to fulfill their commitments, including those arranged within the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Retno told a press briefing in Geneva.
“There needs to be a focus on the things that unite us, not those that divide us. All countries must push for procedural and substantive progress on disarmament.”
Established by the UN General Assembly in 1979, the CD is the sole multilateral forum on disarmament, consisting of 65 countries considered to have significant military bearings in the world. This includes UNSC – the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Russia and France – all of which are internationally recognized nuclear-weapon states.
In recent years, the issue of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation has become particularly essential for ASEAN, with its territories turning into geopolitical battlegrounds for the competition between Washington and Beijing.
The rivalry has seen increased military presence and minilateral groupings in the Indo-Pacific. In response, Indonesia has on various occasions expressed its anxiety, especially following the formation of the Australia-UK-US pact (AUKUS) to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra.
