12 May 2004	Wednesday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

BEIJING, May 11: China on Tuesday hoped that Pakistan's request to join Asean Regional Forum would be 'finally' accepted. A senior Chinese official said that China fully supported Pakistan's membership and believed its inclusion in the ARF would help promote peace and security in the region.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has already lifted moratorium on accepting new members. The official told APP that almost all member countries had agreed to accept Pakistan in the ARF.

He said some members in the Asean group, like China, were keen to include Pakistan in the ARF to make the fight against terrorism more effective. According to diplomatic sources, if membership is approved Pakistan is likely to attend the ministerial-level meeting scheduled to take place in Jakarta early July.

Pakistan has been campaigning to join Asean's security grouping of 23 countries, but its move has been blocked in the past by India, already an ARF member. -APP