BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov 6 (AFP) - Broad security cooperation among China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand has inflicted a major blow on drug producers in the Golden Triangle region, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said Tuesday.
He was speaking after a meeting with his counterparts from the three other countries on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit here.
The meeting was initiated by Thailand which regards the regional drug problem as "very serious," Surakiart said.
There was a need for greater political commitment to battle the drug scourge with intervention from the top leadership, he said.
The four countries had basically agreed in principle to convene a summit when necessary to discuss the problem, he told reporters.
The others at the one-hour talks were the Chinese, Myanmar and Laotian foreign ministers Tang Jiaxuan, Maung Win and Somsavat Lengsavad respectively.
"I have to say cooperation have been really effective and beyond doubt, the four countries have been sincere to one another on the eradication of narcotic drugs," Surakiart said.
He said there has been intense cooperation particularly in intelligence exchange and "we have been able to seize millions of amphetamine pills in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and China."
Surakiart said sharing information had also led to the arrest of several drug traffickers in the Andaman Sea, off the Myanmar coast.
"These are cooperation which I would say never took place in this fashion in the past," he said.
ASEAN and China have been working together on the drug problem for many years but success has been limited despite intelligence sharing and cross-border investigations.
Surakiart said the meeting agreed the drugs issue was becoming greatly related to the HIV/AIDS, illegal migration and terrorism problems.
He said that intelligence reports suggested that drug production in the Golden Triangle region was easing, but did not elaborate.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the drug problem was an important issue for Kuala Lumpur, which has labelled it the number one enemy of the state.
Mahathir said Malaysia would support any measures to cut drug production and trade since it was now linked to the spread of HIV/AIDS, and would like to participate in the summit proposed by the four Golden Triangle countries.
Southeast Asian leaders Monday adopted an ambitious four-year program to combat a regional HIV/AIDS epidemic, and warned intravenous drug use threatened to overtake sexual transmission as the major cause of infection.
At the end of 1999, UNAIDS estimated there were 1.63 million people with HIV/AIDS in Southeast Asia out of a population of 510 million.
Beijing is under growing pressure to step up cooperation with its Southeast Asian neighbors as the Golden Triangle -- an area between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos -- has become a major source of drugs ending up in China, officials said.
A one-day conference held in Beijing in August and attended by ministers in charge of fighting drugs from the four nations highlighted the growing need for regional efforts.
Surakiart said the Myanmar junta was committed to the eradication of drugs and was active in intelligence exchange.
Myanmar's military regime has come under harsh international criticism for its alleged involvement in the narcotics trade and its failure to clamp down on illegal drug producers. The regime however denies the charges.
Surakiart said the four ministers agreed in principle to hold a summit "in the future when the timing is right."
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