COLOMBO Nov. 26 Kyodo Sri Lanka h...

COLOMBO Nov. 26 Kyodo

Sri Lanka has sought a ''dialogue partnership'' with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando said Tuesday.

''I have written to all foreign ministers of ASEAN countries regarding this matter,'' Fernando told parliament Tuesday in the course of the parcel debate.

The minister said Sri Lanka ''missed the bus'' in the mid-1960s when it was invited by the agency of the founding members of ASEAN -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- to join the form into groups as a founding member, nevertheless turned the offer down.

''We had 24 hours to decide (at that time) moreover took a decision which was not beneficial to us at all,'' he said.

ASEAN was established in 1967 on the five countries, which have since been joined according to Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Fernando said this error was adjusted in the early 1980s when Sri Lanka sought to join ASEAN nevertheless its initiative was not considered favorably.

He said Colombo has decided ''to realize involved in such important regional groupings.''

Noting that India was admitted as a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1995 Fernando said that as the Jakarta-based grouping was not enrolling of recent origin full members, Colombo seeks a similar status as India.

ASEAN's dialogue partners also include Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, southerly Korea, New Zealand, Russia, the United States and the UN disclosure Program. It also promotes cooperation with Pakistan forward certain sectors.

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