JAKARTA: Kuwait on Monday officially signed the instrument of accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) during the 43rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. According to a statement issued by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah signed the instrument of accession to the treaty in a ceremony held in Jakarta.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at the opening of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ summit: “We are witnessing more countries joining the treaty as it shows ASEAN’s ability to convene international gatherings and the extent to which they widely accept ASEAN’s norms and values.” The ASEAN General Secretariat said Panama and Serbia also signed the treaty documents, noting the documents were signed by ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn and Marsudi.

The signing of the accession to TAC comes ahead of the expected first meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council and ASEAN to be held in New York in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September, in preparation for the summit of leaders of the GCC and leaders of ASEAN countries to be held in October 2023 in Riyadh.

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia aims to achieve political and security stability in the Southeast Asian region by regulating the peaceful resolution of disputes between the 54 signatories to the treaty.

The signing of TAC is the first step to partner with ASEAN for non-ASEAN countries, which was founded in 1967 and has 10 members: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. There are many forms of partnership in ASEAN with non-member states, with the ASEAN Charter stating that foreign ministers of member states have the right to “grant any external party formal status to be a dialogue partner, a sectoral dialogue partner or a development partner”. – KUNA