AMM: Malaysia Has Opportunity To Break SEANWFZ Deadlock, Garner Nuclear-Armed States' Support -- Analysts
KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's position as ASEAN Chair in 2025 presents a strategic opportunity to reshape the regional security landscape, particularly in ensuring the region remains free of nuclear weapons.
This comes in the wake of Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan's recent statement that China and Russia have agreed to sign the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), while the United States is currently reviewing the possibility of becoming a signatory.
Associate Professor Dr Mazlan Ali of the Perdana Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, described the development as a breakthrough, ending nearly two decades of stalemate in efforts to get all five states recognised under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to become signatories.
Speaking to Bernama, he said that if all the five states agreed to sign SEANWFZ, it would mark not only a success for ASEAN, but a symbol of Malaysia's respected diplomatic leadership.
'Malaysia has the chance to emerge as a successful facilitator on a critically important global security issue. No ASEAN country has ever achieved such a feat, and it would significantly enhance Malaysia's influence in both regional and global dialogues on disarmament and peace diplomacy,' he said.
'To date, no nuclear-weapon state has signed the SEANWFZ Protocol. Countries such as China, the United States, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom – the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – have yet to sign it,' he added.
Tomorrow, the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Commission (SEANWFZ ExCom) is scheduled to take place alongside the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) and related meetings at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which will also be attended by the US, Russia, the UK and China.
Mazlan said that successfully securing support from these nations would become a major legacy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's leadership, who is currently seen as a vocal advocate for the Global South on international issues.
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