ASEAN PROPOSAL FOR AN ENHANCED PARTNERSHIP WITH

UNCLAS BANGKOK 004695 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL TH SUBJECT: ASEAN PROPOSAL FOR AN ENHANCED PARTNERSHIP WITH THE U.S. REF: STATE 133155 ¶1. (SBU) Poloff delivered points contained in reftel to MFA Department of ASEAN Affairs Director Nopporn Adchariyavanich on July 20. Nopporn noted that the Thai proposal for an enhanced ASEAN-U.S. partnership had been raised at the ASEAN-U.S. Dialogue in Washington last month and has the approval of the other ASEAN members. Nopporn said that at the Vientiane ASEAN conference later this month Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi will call for establishment of a comprehensive ASEAN-U.S. strategic partnership that will go beyond political and security relations to include economic, trade and cultural ties. Nopporn said that the RTG will call for an agreement with mutually agreed upon, long term timelines and goals for the relationship. ¶2. (SBU) Nopporn said that with a statement of support for the Thai proposal by the U.S. side at the Vientiane Ministerial, the ASEAN-U.S. Informal Coordinating Mechanism should be tasked at its next meeting in the U.S. this October with drafting the partnership document. Nopporn said that based on earlier ASEAN partnership agreements with China, Japan and India, the drafting process should take approximately a year. BOYCE