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Leaders of 10 ASEAN nations gather for 25^th year commemorative summit.

Details of the summit

• Issues in the Indo-Pacific will be the focus of discussions among the 10 leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations and India.
• “Maritime Cooperation & Security”, the theme during the Leaders’ Retreat, will find “prominent mention” in the joint statements. It is understood that Vietnam, which is tasked with drafting the statement, and India have both been keen on cooperation on Freedom of Navigation, access to waterways and countering piracy on the high seas as a key part of the Delhi Declaration, which would be seen as a strong message to China.
• The ASEAN-India joint statement, on the theme of “Shared Values and Common Destiny” will focus on the “three Cs of connectivity, commerce and culture”, along with the issues of maritime security, cybersecurity and cooperation on fighting terrorism. Other areas of divergence, which will not be in the joint statement, could be taken up during the Retreat, where leaders will sit together informally. Among them is the Rohingya issue.
• India’s difficulties with the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will also be on the agenda for talks, as most ASEAN countries are keen to conclude the negotiations by 2018-end.
• India is keen to discuss its concerns over China’s Belt and Road Initiative. However, it is unlikely to be taken up.

About ASEAN

• The Association of Southeast AsianNations is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian countries which promotes
• Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational and socio-cultural integration amongst its members and other Asian countries.

Source

The Hindu