Tokyo, June 18: The seventh ministerial conference of the Asian and Pacific Council concluded its three day deliberations in Seoul to-day emphasising the peaceful and non-military nature of the nine-member organisation and seeking to dispel any doubts from the minds of the people that it was militarily motivated. At the same time, a joint communique stressed the open door policy of the organisation to permit membership in it to all countries of the region, regardless of ideologies. Reflecting the general desire of the majority of the member-countries — particularly in view of the fast changes that are coming about in the Asian and Pacific region — to erase suspicions that the ASPAC was some kind of a military alliance, the communique specifically stated that it was not a political or military arrangement directed against other nations. Nor was it an exclusive organisation. The communique declared that ASPAC was open to non-member countries within the region who were ready to make a constructive contribution to its objectives and purposes. It restated its purposes, namely, that the ASPAC was an organisation for regional co-operation pursuing peace and progress in the Asian and Pacific region. It would devote its efforts to promote co-operation in economic, technical, social, cultural, and other fields.
