April 8, 1976
I have just signed the ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and the agreement for the Establishment of an ASEAN Secretariat.
We are the first member to ratify the two documents.
I also issued instructions to Sec. Romulo on his trip to the U.S. on the negotiations on the military agreements: “Explain [to] Pres. Ford [illegible] Kissinger that we intend to take an active part in the Third World conferences [illegible] for a new world economic order; that we can be a bridge between the U.S. and the developing countries because we represent the moderates with a concrete plan to bring about a rapprochement; But we cannot act as a [illegible] bridge if we are not credible as a free agent. So we have to wipe out the vestiges of the pre-Vietnam commitments. The Foreign Secretary and Minister of North Vietnam succesfully kept us out of the conference of Neutral States last year.
