The ASEAN Summit, a biannual meeting held by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss and find common denominators in relation to economic, political, security, and socio-cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. In addition, it serves as a prominent regional and international conference, with world leaders attending its related Summits and meetings to discuss various problems and global issues. This is undertaken to strengthen cooperation, and make decisions. The Summit has been praised by world leaders for its success and ability to produce results on a global level.
The league of ASEAN is also currently connected with other countries who aim to participate and share views pertaining to the missions and visions of the League. The League conducts annual meetings with other countries in an organization collectively known as the ASEAN dialogue partners. ASEAN +3 has now become a symbol for ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea.
Under the ASEAN Charter, the ASEAN Summit is the supreme policy-making body of ASEAN. It comprises of the Heads of State or Government of each Member State. Accordingly, the Chairmanship of ASEAN rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of ASEAN member states.
The Member State assuming the Chairmanship holds it for one calendar year, and chairs the ASEAN Summit and related summits, the ASEAN Coordinating Council, the three ASEAN Community Councils, relevant ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies and senior officials, and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. In addition, the Secretary General of ASEAN is appointed by the ASEAN Summit, selected from among nationals of ASEAN member states based on alphabetical rotation. The Chairmanship of ASEAN for 2024 is held by Laos.
The last Summits- 42nd and 43rd were held on 9-11 May, 2023 and subsequently on 5-7 September, 2023. Both meetings were held in Indonesia. This time, the 44th and 45th Summit meetings have been held in Vientiane, Laos from 6 to 11 October, 2024. The latest Summit has received international attention because of the wide range of participants.
A group photo published in the print media noted the presence of many important leaders from South East Asia along with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The varied presence included Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Philippines’ President F. Marcos Jr., Singapore’s Prime Minister L. Wong, Thailand’s Foreign Minister M. Sanglampongsa, Vietnam’s Prime Minister P.M. Chinh, Laos’ Prime Minister S. Siphandone, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Brunei’s Sultan H. Bolkiah, Cambodia’s Prime Minister H. Mamet, Indonesia’s Vice Prime Minister M.Amin and East Timor’s Prime Minister X. Gusmao. The interesting aspect was that such a group came together in the 21st ASEAN – India Summit held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit meeting. This photo exemplified the significant role that India, a Non-Member enjoys with the other Members of the ASEAN.
The ASEAN bloc remains a clear “stabilizing force” in Southeast Asia despite having made only incremental progress on key issues, including Myanmar’s civil war, the repatriation of more than a million Rohingyas who have taken sanctuary as refugees in Bangladesh or the drafting of a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
Leaders of the 10 member ASEAN met in Laos with Heads of Governments and top diplomats from partners including the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
The bloc, home to over 685 million people and representing around 8% of global exports, has however been unable to push resolutions on difficult regional issues, which geo-strategists consider as risks that may undermine ASEAN’s central role in its backyard.
However, ASEAN’s Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn has insisted that the grouping has constantly pushed for dialogue and diplomacy and ensuring that negotiations move ahead. In this context, it was underlined that – “ASEAN has been a stabilizing force. We take the issues head on. People always put too much emphasis on problems, but the way I look at ASEAN, we have come a long way.” In this regard, the Secretary General also pointed out that with Member economies increasingly integrating through trade agreements being placed with many external partners, ASEAN had attracted US Dollar 230 billion in new investments in 2023- because there is confidence and trust in ASEAN.
Such an assumption has however not been agreed to in full context by many analysts.
ASEAN has made little progress with its “Five Point Consensus” peace plan for Myanmar, unveiled months after a 2021 coup, but the ASEAN Secretary General has observed that the leaders of ASEAN remain adamant that the ASEAN will stay engaged with Myanmar. He has also remarked that ASEAN needs time to resolve the evolving bad state within Myanmar as it is a complex issue.
However, the world has noted that the conflict has been raging within Myanmar for some time now and is gradually deteriorating even further. It is now estimated that nearly 18.6 million people, more than a third of Myanmar’s population, are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.
Observers have also noted that despite losing control of wide swathes of territory and being pinned down across multiple front lines, the Myanmar Junta appears to be pushing ahead with plans for an election next year- which is already being ridiculed as a sham.
Such a scenario has pushed ASEAN to remark that they will continue to push for “inclusive political dialogue” among all conflicting Parties in Myanmar. This dimension is being carefully followed as many leaders are thinking of scaling up humanitarian assistance.
In this context, Thailand, Myanmar’s neighbor, has offered to host an “informal consultation” on Myanmar in December among ASEAN Members, some of whom are divided between those who want the Junta to do more and those calling for more talks among the warring Parties.
It may be recalled that the Bloc made similar appeals after their Summits in 2022 and 2023 but to little effect.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Myanmar- Tom Andrews has said the international response to the war was “clearly not working”. The Special Rapporteur, during a visit to Australia, has called for a coordinated effort to starve the Junta of “money, weapons and legitimacy”. It may also be noted here that the Junta has suffered a series of battlefield defeats in recent months to ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy “People’s Defence Forces” that have risen up to oppose the Coup.
In this context, it is interesting that the Myanmar military government issued an unprecedented invitation to its foes late last month to stop fighting and join talks on ending the war. This was in all probability due to China which is now keen to stop the evolving chaos on its doorstep. However, some leading armed groups have dismissed this call.
One can only hope that ASEAN with the help of Russia and Japan will be able to find a more persuasive effort in this regard. What is happening in Myanmar is having an osmotic effect that is totally unacceptable.
We can end these violations and invest in a constructive co-existence globally. We can use our resources for education, rather than for wars. In classrooms around the world, girls and boys who have withstood the wrath of war can rebuild their hopes and their lives. Cultivating a culture of peace is possible. The financial resources exist. The choice as to how we use them is ours.
