East Asia Summit 2018 | Latest Burning Issues

Table of Contents

WHAT HAPPENED IN NOVEMBER 2018

NOTES

PM recently concluded his visit to Singapore and attended the ASEAN-India Summit held on side-lines of 33rd ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit, 13th East Asia Summit (EAS) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit.

QUAD MEETING

ASEAN SUMMIT NOVEMBER 2018

The ASEAN Summit is a semi-annual (occurring twice a year) meeting

33RD ASEAN SUMMIT

ABOUT ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established in 1967 with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration).
The ASEAN members are Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, and Laos.

INDIA – ASEAN

On side-lines of 33rd ASEAN Summit, India-ASEAN Summit was also organized.
As strategic partners, India and ASEAN have trade and economic relations.
Trade between India and ASEAN stood at around $ 81 billion in 2017-18 and constitutes 10% of India’s total trade. Exports to ASEAN countries constitute 11% of India’s total exports.
India and ASEAN have a combined population of 1.9 billion which is a quarter of the world’s population and the combined GDP of $5 trillion.
In 2017, India and ASEAN celebrated 25 years of their engagement and the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit was held on January 25th, 2017.
India’s relation with ASEAN is marked by 3 C’s Culture, Commerce and Connectivity.

13TH EAST ASIA SUMMIT

India also participated in 13th East Asia Summit.
The East Asia Summit (Established: 2005) is a forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security, and prosperity.

The members of East Asia Summit consists of 10 ASEAN nations (Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, and Laos), and 8 other members- Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the US.

2ND REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP) SUMMIT

3RD QUAD MEETING

It is the grouping of four democracies –India, Australia, the US, and Japan.
The Quad association of members who have a shared objective to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region and rules-based global order.
Connectivity, counter-terrorism, and cybersecurity was the focus of the conversation at the third meeting of the ‘Quad’ countries.
The US, Japan, and Australia emphasized “rules-based order” in their statements, which was missing from the Indian statement.
A serious discussion took place on Sri Lanka and Maldives, both in India’s immediate neighbourhood and influenced by China’s expansionism.

WHY TRUMP ABSENT?

The US president’s lack of engagement with Asian nations came just days after a trip to France for World War One commemorations at which he appeared isolated from Nato allies.
As well as the summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and East Asian nations in Singapore, Trump will also skip the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Papua New Guinea

DOUBTS

Trump attended both the Asean and Apec meetings in 2017, and his decision to stay away this year has raised questions about Washington’s commitment to a regional strategy to counter China.
Vice President Mike Pence, who represented Trump in Singapore, told the meeting that United States’ commitment to the Indo-Pacific is “steadfast and enduring.”