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United States Mission to the OSCE
Response to Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, H.E. Kasit Piromya
As delivered by Ambassador Ian Kelly
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
June 24, 2010
The United States warmly welcomes Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to the OSCE Permanent Council, and we thank him for sharing his thoughts on security in the Asian region.
President Obama and Secretary Clinton have personally demonstrated renewed American engagement in the Asia-Pacific region over the past 18 months. This engagement includes a number of high-level visits to countries in the region – including Thailand - as well as the U.S. signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with ASEAN. We look forward to participating in the first expanded ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting in October. We also enjoy mutually beneficial cooperation with our partners in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
Thailand is a close friend and ally of the United States, and a valued partner in multilateral organizations such as the OSCE, ASEAN and the ARF. Thailand has demonstrated its commitment to working together and sharing experience with the OSCE through hosting events such as the workshop on “Combating Illicit Crop Cultivation and Enhancing Border Management Security” held in January this year. We highly value this type of exchange of best practices; it not only benefits other Partners for Cooperation, but can also assist participating States in addressing common threats to security.
We share with Thailand a vision of a regional Asia-Pacific architecture that is inclusive and promotes shared values and norms, and we welcome ASEAN’s plans to create an ASEAN Community by 2015 based on the ASEAN Charter. We strongly support the inauguration of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, and applaud the organization’s focus on human rights and good governance. We also welcome the growing engagement of the region’s parliaments and ASEAN’s commitment to work with civil society. These are all issues that have proven to be critical to advancing security and stability within the OSCE area. Given OSCE’s experience in this sphere, we see scope for cooperation and exchange of best practices between ASEAN and the OSCE.
In closing, we thank the Foreign Minister for his appearance at the Permanent Council here today and we look forward to continuing bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
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