The East Sea issue should be settled through peaceful measures among ASEAN countries to maintain peace and security in the region, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh said.

Minh released his call when addressing the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat and Politico-Security Council Meeting and Coordination Council Meeting in Banda Seri Begawan, Brunei on April 11.

The settlement of East Sea issue must be based on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards the conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC), Minh said. All ASEAN members States had ratified the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism by January 2013. Currently they are making efforts to join the Comprehensive Plan of Action on Counter Terrorism. Preparations for the establishment of an ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network are being carried out in accordance with the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) framework. Commenting on recent performances of the ASEAN Politico-Security pillar, the Secretary General said that Brazil, the UK, and the EU took part in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2012, taking the total member countries of the treaty to 31. Minh also said ASEAN is considering the Timor Leste’s application for full membership of the bloc. With an aim to strengthen food security in the region, ASEAN and its three East Asian partners, including China, the Republic of Korea and Japan, signed an agreement on ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) in last October. By December 2012, the bloc had completed more than 74 percent of the implementation plan for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Minh said.