Medvedev submits Bali treaty protocol for ratification

MOSCOW, February 25 (Itar-Tass) -- President Dmitry Medvedev submitted
the third protocol to the Bali Treaty for ratification in the State Duma
on Thursday which would allow the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
to join ASEAN as an entity.
The protocol was signed last year in Hanoi and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said it allows international organizations to join
the treaty.
"Our partners displayed interest in establishing close relations
between ASEAN and SCO. We discussed concrete plans in this connection. We
shall work them out and implement," he said and recalled an ASEAN deputy
general had attended the latest SCO summit.
The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia signed in Bali
in 1976 by ASEAN founders stipulates such principles as respect for
independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and peaceful
settlement of conflicts. Besides ten ASEAN members participants in the
treaty currently comprise 16 other countries, including Russia, China, and
India.