Asian Development Bank
It stresses that to be effective and operational, nuclear weapon states must accede to the Protocol to the Treaty and urges them to do so as soon as possible. Furthermore, it notes that ASEAN has been holding consultations with the five nuclear weapon states toward this end, but that only China has, thus far, reached an agreement with ASEAN regarding the protocol. At the 10th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit held the same week, the chairman addressed the situation with the DPRK, calling for full implementation of UNSC resolutions 1695 and 1718. It envisioned a Southeast Asia free from nuclear weapons, with all the NWS committed to the purposes of the SANWFZ Treaty through their adherence to its Protocol. It also envisioned the region to be free from all other WMD, and the ASEAN Regional Forum as an established means for confidence-building and preventive diplomacy and for promoting conflict-resolution. On 17 November, ASEAN and the United States issued a Joint Vision Statement on the ...