A.S.E.A.N. to look for new members?

Press, 30 May 1981, Page 21

A.S.E.A.N. to look for new members?

NZPA Hong Kong A.S.E.A.N., the Association of South-East Asian Nations, formed 14 years ago as a loose economic and cultural group linking the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, is fast approaching a stage where it will have to look seriously into the possibility of expanding its membership. The issue has been brought to a head in recent weeks by Sri Lanka, which after expressing interest in membership has gone a stage further and said it will apply to join. The reaction from the A.S.E.A.N. capitals has ranged from outright rejection to lukewarm agreement that there is room for expansion.

A.S.E.A.N. as an organisation reaches its decisions by consensus, and clearly Sri Lanka is not about to be accepted as a member, even if it does continue with an application. However, the Sri Lankan initiative, pursued by its Prime Minister, Ranasinghe Premadasa, during a recent tour of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, does confirm the growing political importance of A.S.E.A.N. and also raises questions about the boundaries of the region it represents. The Malaysian Foreign Minister, Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, is one A.S.E.A.N. politician who has no doubt that Sri Lanka, an island nation of 15 million people off the south-eastern tip of India, does not qualify for membership on geographical grounds. Sri Lanka, he has said, is not part of South-East Asia.

However, Mr Premadasa’s trump card in arguments of this nature is his claim that A.S.E.A.N. invited Sri Lanka to join its ranks in both 1967 and 1976.

“My own view is that we should have accepted the invitation in 1976, by which time A.S.E.A.N. was functioning effectively,” he said. In the past few years, united in its opposition to the Vietnamese-inspired change of government in Kampuchea, staunchly anti-com-munist A.S.E.A.N. has consolidated its strength. “Today, A:S.E.A.N. speaks with a respected voice on regional and international issues,” said the Philippines’ Foreign Minister, Mr Carlos Romulo. “The weight of A.S.E.A.N. on the the politics of South-East Asian regions is now widely felt.” One fear about expanding membership to include Sri Lanka is that A.S.E.A.N. already has enough difficulty maintaining a unified front in its approach to regional issues without adding a coun-f try that would inevitably widen the focus to include the Indian sub-continent.

Sri Lanka’s promotion of the formation of a South Asian group would include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives.

Foreign ministers of these seven non-communist nations have met in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo to discuss the framework for proposed regional co-operation along similar lines to A.S.E.A.N.

Although agreeing on the need for regional co-opera-tion, the seven countries could have difficulty agree-

ing on political issues — and Sri Lanka, which enjoys good relations with the A.S.E.A.N. countries, obviously feels that A.S.E.A.N. represents a better forum for its political views.

However, from being a club that might once have been seeking members, A.S.E.A.N. has become more exclusive. The Sultanate of Brunei, which will become independent of Britain in 1983, is a likely sixth member and Burma could find a place in any enlarged A.S.E.A.N.

Papua New Guinea, which like Australia and New Zealand has observer status within A.S.E.A.N., is another country to have been suggested as a possible member, linking A.S.E.A.N. with the South Pacific island nations.

The membership issue is likely to be raised when the A.S.E.A.N. foreign ministers get together for their annual summit in Manila next month. No immediate expansion is likely, however.