PH joins global push for secure, stable maritime domain at UNGA

September 27 ------ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro headed the Foreign Ministerial Meeting on achieving a secure and stable domain to address shared maritime issues such as freedom of navigation and commerce.

In a statement, the DFA said that the “Reinforcing Cooperation to Achieve a Secure and Stable Maritime Domain” was conducted on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Sept. 24 (New York time). Around 40 countries participated in the meeting, which was co-hosted by the Philippines with Australia, Estonia, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The meeting, the DFA said, acknowledged the current challenges faced by the global community in ensuring a secure and stable maritime domain. “There was renewed commitment to multilateralism and the shared stewardship of the world’s oceans,” the agency added, pointing out the role that international law and cooperation across shared maritime issues must play for the protection of marine environment.

These will also ensure freedom of navigation and commerce, facilitate global connectivity, and secure critical underwater infrastructure, the DFA furthered. “As a growing coalition across regions, we reaffirmed international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the constitution of the ocean and the legal framework in addressing global challenges to security and stability at sea,” Lazaro in a statement.

In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter), the DFA chief also shared about joining other countries in the Friends of the Fissile Material Cut-off Treat (FMCT). “Honored to join (Japan) Foreign Minister Iwaya with (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States) as Friends of the Fissile Material Cut-off Treat (FMCT) in sustaining international efforts toward a safe world through #FMCT,” Lazaro wrote. “The FMCT aims to prohibit the production of fissile materials, specifically highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium, used in nuclear weapons,” she added.

The FMCT is an international agreement that’s intended to ban the future production of fissile materials, such as highly enriched uranium and plutonium, for nuclear weapons.

Source: mb.com.ph