A recent statement issued by ASEAN mentions that peace, stability and the development of Thailand are crucial for driving the region towards the target of becoming the ASEAN Community in 2015. ASEAN will give full support to the Thai government as well as its citizens for finding a peaceful approach to solve the problem with respect to the principle of democracy and the rule of law.

The statement was made after ASEAN members, such as Vietnam, Singapore, Laos, and ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, had expressed their concerns for the prolonged Thai political conflict on the international stage. They demanded negotiations for ending the crisis, stressing that the stabilization of Thailand would bring stability to the entire region as well.

Thailand and the Philippines were among the five founding members of the grouping in 1967. The others were Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The prime minister and his entourage departed from the Royal Thai Air Force Base at Don Mueang at 8 am and was scheduled to arrive at the Villamor Air Force Base in Manila at noon local time, which is one hour ahead of Thailand.

Upon his arrival, Mr Abhisit will meet with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in talks expected to cover a wide range of cooperation.

Both sides are expected to review and seek ways to strengthen their bilateral ties, particularly as this year will mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties established between Thailand and the Philippines. The two nations have had smooth and strong relations as well as a positive alliance during the past 60 years.

During the one-day official visit, Mr Abhisit is expected to discuss bilateral cooperation on food and energy security, and planning to expand trade and investment, particularly Thai rice and fruit.

The Thai prime minister will ask the Philippine leader to support Thai businesspersons who invest in the Philippines.

Tax and tourism cooperation are also on the agenda.

Security at both bilateral and multilateral levels, including within the ASEAN framework, will be discussed by the two leaders.

After the talks, Mr Abhisit is scheduled to lay a wreath at the monument of Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero, and receive the key to the city of Manila before attending an official welcome ceremony and dinner hosted by Mrs Arroyo to honour the Thai prime minister at Malacanang, the seat of the Philippine government.

Mr Abhisit is scheduled to arrive at the Royal Thai Air Force Base in Bangkok at 11.30 pm Friday. (TNA)

Under the agreement, ASEAN members and India will abolish import tariffs for more than 80 per cent of their total imported goods between 2013-2016, while import tariffs for sensitive goods will be reduced to 5 per cent in 2016.

Mrs Pornthiva said after six year of negotiations, the ASEAN-India FTA was signed by the ASEAN Trade Ministers and its Indian counterpart during the 41st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) in Bangkok on Thursday which was considered a successful step of ASEAN to tie up trade relations with India and its population of 1,100 million people.

The Indian economy is of similar size to China, Japan and South Korea, countries with which ASEAN has already signed FTAs, she said.

The commerce minister said she was confident that the ASEAN-India FTA would be an important mechanism to boost trade and investment between ASEAN member countries and India.

It was also good timing for the FTA as it could give a positive signal to the world community that ASEAN and India have the strong determination to foster free trade system, she said.

“It is expected that trade between ASEAN and India will increase to US$60 billion within seven year or 2016 after the trade volume in previous year was US$47 billion. Among ASEAN countries, Thailand ranks forth in export market share to India after Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia,” said Mrs Pornthiva.

It is expected that trade between Thailand and India could hit US$10 billion after the implementation of the FTA next year, she said.

The FTA agreement will enable member countries to reduce tariffs from January 1, 2010, onwards, she said, adding that Thai export products which would benefit from the agreement include automotive components, gemstones and ornaments, telecommunications equipment, electrical appliances, furniture and cosmetics.

The signing of the FTA will open South-East Asian markets for Indian exporters reeling from the shrinking of their main markets in the United States and Europe during the global economic slowdown.

Trade negotiations with the 10-nation ASEAN began in 2001 but was delayed several times due to the differences over issues like the list of restricted goods, duty cuts on farm products including palm oil and rules related to value addition. After negotiations concluded in late 2008, new differences arose on the methods of breaking customs’ barriers.

ASEAN comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Lao, Myanmar and Cambodia. (TNA)

So far there is no clear evidence that the Southeast Asian country, Thailand’s neighbour to the west, has such a facility but if it does, it will be forced to leave the organisation because operating a nuclear plant violates a regional pact which states that ASEAN will be a nuclear free zone, said Mr Surin.

Mr Surin was responding to Western media reports which said recently that impoverished Myanmar was building a secret nuclear reactor and plutonium facilities with the help of North Korea and aims to have a nuclear bomb in five years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the ASEAN meeting in Thailand’s Phuket last month also warned about possible nuclear links between the two countries. She said the communist-state could be sharing atomic technology with military-ruled Myanmar which could pose a major threat to the region.

“ASEAN (government) leaders will have to jointly consider on the issue. If (Myanmar) is found guilty then it will be forced to leave ASEAN,” said Mr. Surin, adding that so far there is no sign that the country has built such facilities.

Myanmar along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are ASEAN members.

Touching on the court delay in issuing a verdict against Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and two housekeepers following
the May 3 incident in which American John William Yettaw allegedly swam across a lake to her home and stayed there for two days, Mr Surin said he believed the postponement probably so the verdict to be issued would not impact the feelings of the international community.

The verdict must be transparent before general elections, otherwise Myanmar authorities would not have reason to back their claims to the international community, and it would also put pressure on ASEAN, he said.

If convicted, Mrs Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest since 1989 could face up to five years in prison, which would prevent her from participating the general elections that the junta has scheduled for 2010.

Myanmar court has postponed the verdict until Tuesday. (TNA)

Earlier intended arrangements to share the same venue to meet the press in end-to-end time slots and schedule delays and overruns, led to confusion among media and diplomats, as decorum broke down.

The United States will continue pressing North Korea under United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution No. 1874, according to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while North Korea more firmly rejects pressure for nuclear disarmament.

The US top diplomat told a press conference following the 16th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meetings in Phuket that North Korean resistance to pressure from the international community to give up its nuclear programme ambitions could fuel a new nuclear arms race, but North Korea countered by saying that it had done nothing wrong.

Pyongyang also refused to comply with the agreement it had signed at the Six-Party Talks in 2005, she said.

Mrs Clinton said such a North Korean stance could trigger a new nuclear arms race, therefore, the United States, along with China, Russia, Japan and South Korea had agreed to put pressure against North Korea under Security Council Resolution No. 1874.

The US secretary of state said North Korea’s stance would cause problems not only for the US, but threatens security in the region and beyond. The international community had unanimously agreed that it could not accept North Korea’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

However, she stressed that the United States would apply peaceful measures in dealing with North Korea regarding its nuclear programme.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 was adopted unanimously on June 12, imposing further economic and commercial sanctions on North Korea and encourages UN member states to search North Korean cargoes, in the aftermath of an underground nuclear test conducted on May 25.

Mrs Clinton added that the US believed that North Korea has no other option but to return to the negotiation table and comply with the agreement forged at the six-party talks in 2005 and give full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Meanwhile, the director-general of North Korean foreign ministry’s international organisation bureau, Ri Hung-Sik at his briefing on the sidelines of ARF called on the US to stop seeing North Korea as its enemy and give up its hostile policy toward Pyongyang, otherwise there would be no any talks in the future.

The North Korean official said that the six-party nuclear disarmament talks were dead. (TNA)

Meanwhile, she praised the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for its effort to protect human rights, saying she expected the attempt could bring change in Myanmar, an ASEAN member that has been criticised by the US on its human rights record.

Mrs Clinton spoke after attending the ASEAN-US Ministerial Meeting held in the southern resort province of Phuket.

She said one major reason for her trip was to strengthen the relationship between the United States and the countries in ASEAN, as the US regarded ASEAN as an important grouping.

The US top diplomat said she was also proud to announce that the US would set up an American office in ASEAN.

Mrs Clinton said the signing of the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation would eventually help build stronger ties between the US and ASEAN.

The US considers ASEAN as playing an important role in terms of the economy, peace and security in the region, she said, adding that ASEAN is the world’s third biggest grouping of democratic countries.

In signing the treaty, Mrs Clinton reversed former US president George W. Bush’s policy. When the ex-president, who declined to sign the document, met with ASEAN leaders in 2006 to discuss economic cooperation, he criticised Myanmar for continuing human rights abuses by its military junta.

Mrs Clinton also said the US praised ASEAN for its efforts to protect human rights by beginning to set up a human rights body, and she noted that she hoped the move would help bring change in Myanmar.

Moreover, she urged Myanmar to follow suit with its ASEAN neighbours and take the road to democracy.

ASEAN foreign ministers earlier this week approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) for an ASEAN human rights body, which is expected to be launched at the 15th ASEAN Summit in October in Thailand as “The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.”

As for North Korea, Mrs Clinton said Pyongyang must comply with the United Nations Security Council resolution No. 1874 and affirmed the US intention that it was ready to hold talks with North Korea under the condition that the North Korea must stop all its nuclear activities.  (TNA)