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SINGAPORE: Another ASEAN member state has ratified the grouping's Charter and deposited the Instrument of Ratification with the ASEAN Secretariat.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win presented his country's ratification during an annual meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore on Monday.
Myanmar was the seventh ASEAN member to do so. This leaves Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to ratify the Charter before the ASEAN Leaders Summit, scheduled for December this year in the Thai capital Bangkok.
The ASEAN Charter aims to make the grouping a more rules-based organisation and one of the highlights of the Charter is to set up a human rights mechanism within the organisation.
The role of the ASEAN Secretariat has also been strengthened with a committee of permanent representatives from each country.
Speaking at Myanmar's ratification ceremony on Monday, ASEAN's Secretary General, Surin Pitsuwan, said the grouping's 10 member countries will be on time to celebrate the full ratification by the time ASEAN leaders meet in Bangkok.
Thailand has planned an elaborate ceremony to commemorate the full ratification of the Charter. Dr Surin said the Thais have found the original table that the founding five members sat at and signed the Bangkok Declaration that brought ASEAN into being on 8 August 1967.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win said his country's ratification is a sign of commitment to work towards the goals of ASEAN to achieve a more cohesive community.
- CNA/ir
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