Southeast Asian officials insisted that Australia and New Zealand sign a non-aggression pact with Asean to dispel any misconception about their intentions in the region.

The officials noted that countries from as far away as Pakistan and Japan have acceded to the Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), with Russia and South Korea also due to sign on at next week's summit in Laos.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose stated policy of pre-emptive strikes to avert attacks has raised concerns in the region, said Friday the TAC was "the sort of agreement which countries coming out of the Non-Aligned Movement would have signed".

He told a Melbourne radio station "a country such as Australia which has a different history wouldn't normally have embraced treaties of this kind" and that Australia was more interested in the substance of its ties with Asean.

The Asean treaty calls for signatories to commit to "non-interference in the internal affairs of one another", a "renunciation of the threat or use of force" and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means.

Dispel misperceptions

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Australia's and New Zealand's accession would have helped dispel misconceptions about their intentions in the region.

"The way Indonesia sees it, there can be no more efficient and effective way for Australia to dispel misperceptions some quarters may have of its intentions in Southeast Asia than to simply accede to the TAC," he told reporters.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said it would have been a "gesture of goodwill and understanding" if Australia had decided to sign the treaty.

He said however Asean would not force countries to accede to the pact.

"Of course we are not happy that they don't want to sign when other countries find it fit to sign. But it's not a precondition to having the summit. We are leaving it at that," he said.

Howard and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark have been invited for the first time to the annual Asean summit, which is regularly attended by China, Japan, South Korea and more recently India.

The summit will be used by the leaders of Asean, Australia and New Zealand to launch negotiations for a free-trade agreement which aims for completion in 10 years.

Symbolic gesture

While Asean officials admit that accession to the treaty is not a precondition to the free-trade talks, they said Australia's refusal would result in an imbalance in overall relations with Asean.

A Southeast Asian diplomat, who did not wish to be identified, said relations with Australia "should be comprehensive", meaning they should cover economic, security, political and other areas.

Indonesia's Natalegawa said Australia's refusal to sign the treaty "would be inconsistent with the intention to deepen relations".

"Given Australia's much-pronounced statements on how much they feel close to the region, we thought that they would be able to see the positives in this," he said.

A study on Asean ties with Australia and New Zealand commissioned by the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies said the two countries' accession to the treaty "would be a significant symbolic gesture of support for peace and stability in Southeast Asia".

"As partners of Asean, it would show that they accept the approach for maintaining order that countries in the region are comfortable with. This would be another step toward the goal of regional integration," it said.