DILI, 26 February 2025 (TATOLI) – The President of the Republic, José Ramos-Horta, on Tuesday, delivered a keynote address at the ASEAN Future Forum (AFF 2025) in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he emphasized the need for ASEAN to maintain its focus on preventive diplomacy to prudently and timely anticipate and prevent tensions from escalating into conflicts in the region.
Horta said that enhancing preventive diplomacy would necessitate active engagement with all relevant parties to deescalate tensions and to prevent certain situations from escalating and spiraling out of control.
He said that despite ASEAN having played a decisive role in maintaining peace, stability, and friendly cooperation in the region, the bloc required “active dialogue, active diplomatic engagement, and an active regional mechanism” to solve the challenges.
“Non-interference should be a golden rule observed by all but non-interference cannot mean indifference and inaction in the face of situations of extreme violence and systematic violation of human rights in a member state or in the world at large. If ASEAN is peoples cantered, if it is to be a fraternal community of peoples, then dialogue, listening, learning, respecting, inclusion, should be the guiding principles and practices,” Horta said.
Horta, therefore, reiterated that preventive diplomacy is crucial for ASEAN to address issues such as the South China Sea dispute and the Myanmar conflict, to ensure a more resilient, sustainable, and prosperous Southeast Asia: “No ASEAN country should feel that is being abandoned by fellow community members when it faces infringements on its sovereignty.”
“By working together, we can build a an even more resilient, more sustainable, and more prosperous Southeast Asia, with its new vision, the ASEAN Community Vision post 2025,” said Horta.
The second ASEAN Future Forum, themed Building a United, Inclusive, and Resilient ASEAN Amidst Global Transformations, brought together ASEAN leaders and senior officials from all 10 ASEAN member states, including Timor-Leste as an observer, to strengthen intra-bloc solidarity to effectively respond to challenges.
The AFF 2025 mission is to contribute to shaping a resilient, inclusive, and forward-looking ASEAN that effectively adapts to the changing regional and global environment while upholding its core values and meeting the needs of its Member States.
TATOLI
