RESPONSE ON UPCOMING U.S. INITIATIVES IN THE ASEAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000830 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2017 TAGS: PREL ARF MARR EAID PARM XB ID SUBJECT: RESPONSE ON UPCOMING U.S. INITIATIVES IN THE ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM REF: A. SECSTATE 33907 ¶B. SHEIVES-TURNBULL EMAIL 3/14/2007 Classified By: Political Officer Daniel Turnbull, for reasons 1.5 (b,d) . ¶1. (U) We met with Deputy Director for ARF Issues Aji Surya at the Department of Foreign Affairs on March 21 to present U.S. proposals (reftel) and hear initial Indonesian reactions. Proposals had been faxed to Surya the preceding day. Surya stressed that his comments were "preliminary" only and contingent upon a full review by the GOI. He expected to have some amendments to propose at the upcoming Inter-Session Support Group (ISG) in Helsinki. ¶2. (C) Establishing an ISM on Nonproliferation: Surya noted that UNSCR 1540 already dealt with weapons of mass destruction in the framework of counterterrorism and that an ISM on counterterrorism and transnational crime already existed, and questioned why a new ISM was necessary. We pointed out that although there was indeed some overlap on the specific issue of counterterrorism, nonproliferation was a much broader set of issues and no ARF structure yet existed to deal with it. Surya then proposed that if a new ISM on nonproliferation were created, it also deal with disarmament. ¶3. (C) Establishing ISM Working Groups: Surya agreed on the importance of working groups for the various ISM. He noted, however, that a Shepherd's Group already existed for the ISM on Disaster Relief and suggested there might be some redundancy. He proposed that if a working group were established for Disaster Relief, it replace and assume the role of the Sherherd's Group. ¶4. (C) ARF Statement on Cooperation on UNSCR 1540: Surya noted that UNSCR 1540 did not require national implementation plans and asked whether the U.S. delegation planned to propose such a step. He explained that this would place "an additional burden" on countries and pointed out that Indonesia had already submitted two reports to the United Nations on Indonesian implementation of UNSCR 1540. Surya said Indonesia was not opposed to national implementing legislation but needed time to draft it. STANDBY ARRANGEMENT CONCEPT PAPER ¶5. (C) We also conveyed U.S. comments (refmail) on the Indonesian Concept Paper for a Standby Arrangement for Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Assistance. Surya took on board U.S. concerns, notably regarding the importance of working within the framework of UNOCHA and other related institutions. Without having had time to study the U.S. comments further, Surya accepted the U.S. offer to partner with Indonesia in making this proposal and said he hoped the U.S. delegation would make a formal representation in favor of the proposal at Helsinki. Surya said he had also asked several other ARF member countries for comments on the proposal. SIX-PARTY TALKS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ARF HELSINKI ¶6. (C) Surya noted the UNDP's recent suspension of cooperation with North Korea and press reports of new difficulties in the Six-Party Talks regarding the transfer of $25 million in DPRK assets. Surya said Indonesia had "pushed hard" to encourage North Korea to attend the upcoming ARF ISG in Helsinki and wanted to avoid a repetition of North Korea's nonparticipation in the previous ISG in Batam, Indonesia. Surya said he hoped developments on these other fronts would not work against possible DPRK participation at Helsinki. HEFFERN