Japan and Pakistan on Friday acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which binds contracting parties to renounce the threat or use of force and prescribes a process for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri signed the treaty on the sidelines of the annual gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, or the ARF, in Jakarta.
Pakistan became the ARF's 24th member Friday.
ASEAN has amended the treaty, which was signed at the first ASEAN summit in February 1976, to allow other countries to join with the consent of all the association's members.
In October, China and India joined the accord, whose principles include respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity among member nations and noninterference in domestic affairs of one another.