This video grab released by the Arakan Army shows burning buildings in the headquarters of the army’s western command in Ann township, Rakhine state, Myanmar, Dec. 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers gathered Sunday (January 19, 2025) for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc’s new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmar’s drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The retreat on the idyllic northern resort island of Langkawi was the first major meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations hosted by Malaysia. Officials said it aims to chart the bloc’s direction for the year as it tries to resolve Myanmar’s deadly four-year crisis and tensions over China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said ASEAN must bolster unity and make economic integration a top priority amid global uncertainties and the U.S.-China rivalry in the region. He said the second term of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has also raised questions on how it will shape dynamics in the region.

“There is much to prepare for. Above all, what we need to anticipate are the potential challenges to ASEAN centrality,” he told the opening of the meeting. “We must ensure that ASEAN remains our central go-to platform for solution seeking… We are the speakers and not the spoken-for. We must drive our own path forward.”

The crisis in Myanmar has emerged as one of the bloc’s biggest challenges since a military coup ousted an elected civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into conflict. It has sparked an armed resistance movement, with rebel forces now controlling large parts of the country. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced millions.

ASEAN’s peace plan and other efforts to seek a solution have been futile as Myanmar’s junta has not been compliant. ASEAN banned Myanmar’s military leaders from formal ASEAN meetings but the bloc’s non-interference policy has hampered its role. The military government plans an election this year to legitimize its rule but critics say polls are unlikely to be free or fair.

Malaysia, which brought Myanmar into ASEAN during its chairmanship of the bloc in 1997, is expected to take a more proactive stance as the Myanmar crisis has led to the flourishing of criminal activities, online scams and human trafficking along Myanmar’s border.

Hasan last month said Malaysia had appointed Othman Hashim, a former foreign ministry senior official, as its special envoy to Myanmar to engage various factions in the country to find a way forward.

Tensions in the South China Sea, one of the world’s vital shipping lanes, are also high on the agenda Sunday following violent confrontations in the waters last year. ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei along with Taiwan have overlapping claims with China, which asserts sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea.

Chinese and Philippine vessels clashed repeatedly last year. Chinese forces also assaulted Vietnamese fishermen and Chinese patrol vessels ventured into areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as exclusive economic zones.

The Philippines has pushed for negotiations between ASEAN and China for a code of conduct in the waterway but talks have stalled over disagreements including whether the pact should be binding and its scope of coverage. ASEAN has not openly criticized China, which is the bloc’s top trading partner.

As chair, Malaysia is likely to push for quiet diplomacy as it balances security challenges with economic gains, analysts say.

“It would be pragmatism on Malaysia’s side, as the country — as well as ASEAN as a whole — lack the diplomatic and military heft to confront China on the South China Sea,” said Muhamamd Faizal Abdul Rahman, a research fellow at Singapore’s S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth has had a shaky start to his potential tenure in the Pentagon after he appeared to not know about the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the four-hour-long Senate confirmation hearing at the US Congress, Mr Hegseth was quizzed on how many countries were in the block and to name a member nation.

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, born in Bangkok to a Thai mother and an American father, posed the question to Mr Hegseth, arguing that he was “not qualified” for the job.

“You talked about the Indo-Pacific a little bit, and I’m glad that you mention it-can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in ASEAN and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations, and how many nations are in ASEAN by the way?” questioned Ms Duckworth.

To which, Mr Hegseth replied: “I could not tell you the exact amount of nations in that, but I know we have allies in South Korea, in Japan, and in AUKUS, in Australia where we are trying to work on submarines with them.”

Dismayed by the answer given by the Republican leader, Ms Duckworth interrupted him and said: “None of those three countries that you mentioned are in ASEAN, I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations.”

Notably, the 10 members of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea are “observer states”.

Pete Hegseth doesn’t know which countries are in ASEAN when asked by Senator Tammy Duckworth.

This exemplifies how utterly unfit Pete Hegseth is to hold the office of Secretary of Defense.

Bro is inept.pic.twitter.com/OGUGz0ATxz

— Art Candee (@ArtCandee) January 14, 2025

Also Read | ‘Want To Bring Warrior Culture Back’: Trump’s Controversial Pentagon Pick

Social media reacts

While those in the opposite political spectrum slammed Mr Hegseth for not knowing about an important alliance, the Conservative supporters protected him saying a potential secretary of defence didn’t need to know about a “purely political and economic collective of nations”.

“These are basic questions that anyone in DOD would know. Hegseth can’t answer ONE! said one user, while another added: “This is simultaneously hilarious and terrifying.”

A third commented: “ASEAN is not a military alliance. Hegseth mentioned the military allies in the region since he’s applying for Secretary of Defense.”

Apart from his knowledge of South East Asia, Mr Hegseth was also grilled over accusations of sexual assault, infidelity and drinking in the workplace. Mr Hegseth, a veteran of the Army National Guard, has no diplomatic or administrative experience but will lead the defence department, including its three million employees and $849 billion budget if he manages to get over the line.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on the sidelines of East Asia Summit, in Vientiane, Laos.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday ( October 11, 2024) met his Thai counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra and discussed ways to improve trade ties and boost cultural linkages between the two nations.

Prime Minister Modi is in Laos on a two-day visit to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.

PM Modi met PM Shinawatra on the sidelines of the East Asia summit.

“Met PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Lao PDR. Thailand is a deeply valued friend of India’s,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

“Our talks were focused on how to improve trade ties between our nations and to boost cultural linkages. We also see great scope in sectors like defence, shipping, digital innovations and more,” he said.

Ms. Shinawatra became Thailand Prime Minister in August this year.

Top officials pose for a group photo at the 25th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Vientiane, Laos, Saturday, July 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Top diplomats from Southeast Asia convened on July 27 in the Laotian capital with their powerful dialogue partners in the last of the three-day regional talks that have grappled with tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea, escalating fighting in Myanmar, and regional rivalry.

Meetings on July 27 will bring together in the same room allies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia — to bolster their relationships and discuss key security issues and other regional affairs.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived July 27 in Vientiane to meet with the ASEAN foreign ministers. He is also expected to meet on the sidelines with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, as both countries are looking to expand their influence in the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also in Vientiane, and already held direct talks with Mr. Wang on July 25.

Participants in these meetings represent either critical U.S. allies and partners, and Washington’s two largest rivals, Moscow and Beijing, who have grown closer over the past two years, prompting deep concerns about their combined global influence.

Indonesia said it emphasized in their opening meetings on Thursday that it’s important the bloc doesn’t get drawn in as both China and the U.S. look to expand their influence in the region.

Focus on the South China Sea

Among other issues, Mr. Blinken will discuss economic cooperation, the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and territorial disputes in the South China Sea during his trip to Vientiane, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of State.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have conflicts with China over its claim of sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea, one of the world’s most crucial waterways for shipping. Many worry that direct confrontations there could lead to broader conflict. Indonesia has also expressed concern about what it sees as Beijing’s encroachment on its exclusive economic zone.

The United States and its allies, meanwhile, have regularly conducted military exercises and patrols in the area to assert their “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, including the right to navigate in international waters, drawing criticism from China.

There are divisions within ASEAN on how to deal with China’s maritime claims. The Philippines has been critical over a perceived lack of support from the bloc, but in a rare deal, China and the Philippines said they had reached an agreement that they hope will end their confrontations, aiming to establish a mutually acceptable arrangement for the disputed area without conceding each other’s territorial claims.

Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo said after the gala dinner on Friday that he had a bilateral meeting with Mr. Wang, where they agreed that they would “honour the provisional agreement in a clear and sincere effort to defuse tensions and try and prevent any incidents of course from leading to further tension in our relationship.”

Addressing the crisis in Myanmar

The increasingly violent civil war in ASEAN member state Myanmar is one of the other issues dominating talks. Thailand has said the group gave their support for it to take a broader role as one of Myanmar’s immediate neighbors.

Nikorndej Balankura, spokesperson of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on July 26 that more dialogue mechanisms have been proposed to include more stakeholders, especially countries that share borders with Myanmar.

He, however, noted that those proposals have just been submitted to Laos, which currently chairs ASEAN and is in charge of recommending them directly to Myanmar to seek its approval.

The army in Myanmar ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule, leading to increasing violence and a humanitarian crisis.

ASEAN has been pushing a “five-point consensus” for peace, but the military leadership in Myanmar has so far ignored the plan, raising questions about the bloc’s efficiency and credibility. The peace plan calls for the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties.

Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers gather in Laos this week for talks on the disputed South China Sea and the conflict in Myanmar, with top diplomats from China and the United States slated to meet on the sidelines.

The three-day meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) starts in the capital Vientiane on July 25.

Antony Blinken will meet Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the event at which he will “discuss the importance of adherence to international law in the South China Sea”, according to the U.S. State Department.

Beijing claims the waterway — through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually — almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

A series of clashes between Philippine and Chinese vessels at flashpoint reefs in recent months have fuelled fears of a conflict that could drag in the United States owing to its mutual defence treaty with Manila.

ASEAN Ministers are expected to issue a joint communique after their meeting on Thursday.

In a draft seen by AFP, some Ministers expressed concerns over “serious incidents” in the waterway “which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions, and may undermine peace, security, and stability in the region”.

A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in a June 17 confrontation when Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy attempt to resupply its troops on a remote outpost.

Beijing and Manila later reached an agreement allowing for the resupply of the troops stationed on a rusty warship deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert Manila’s claims to the area.

One diplomat who is attending the meeting in Vientiane said China’s assertiveness in the sea was pushing some Southeast Asian countries closer to the United States.

Diplomats in the region were also preparing for the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in November’s U.S. election, they said, requesting anonymity to speak to the media.

ASEAN countries “more or less have a feel of how to deal with him… They know what are his trigger points, what he likes, what he dislikes,” he said.

Myanmar

Also on the agenda in Vientiane is the civil war in Myanmar, sparked by a military coup in 2021.

ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, has led diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis but has made little progress.

The junta is excluded from the bloc’s top-level meetings over its refusal to negotiate with its opponents and its brutal crackdown on dissent.

Myanmar is expected to send a senior bureaucrat to this week’s meeting, according to several sources.

The military’s readiness to re-engage with ASEAN diplomatically was a “sign of the junta’s weakened position”, a Southeast Asian diplomat, who will attend the talks, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The generals have yet to make any meaningful counterattack following an offensive by ethnic armed groups in October that seized swaths of territory along the border with China.

The losses triggered rare public criticism of its top leadership.

“The centre is still solid under the junta,” the diplomat said, warning Myanmar could “become a failed state”.

The draft communique seen by AFP said ministers “strongly condemned” the continued violence.

The crisis has divided the bloc, with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines calling for tougher action against the junta.

Thailand has held its own bilateral talks with the generals as well as detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

American singer Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has sparked a diplomatic row as she is performing six sold-out shows in Singapore, which have disappointed the country’s neighbours, as per a report in the Independent. The exclusivity clause negotiated by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, which forbids Ms Swift from performing anywhere else in Southeast Asia, has led to a backlash among the city-state’s neighbours over the arrangement, which is estimated to be worth about 14 million pounds.

The ‘Lover’ singer is performing six shows in Singapore from March 2 to 9. Thailand and the Philippines have criticised the same and have branded the deal “unfriendly”. They have expressed that they are being deprived of the increase in tourism linked to her concerts.

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that he was informed of the agreement that Ms Swift will not do any other shows in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Citing a concert promoter, he said that Singapore offered Ms Swift up to US$3 million per concert if she did not play anywhere else in Southeast Asia, according to Sky News.

“The Singapore government is astute. If she came to Thailand, it would have been cheaper to organise it here, and I believe she would be able to attract more sponsors and tourists to Thailand. Even though we would have to subsidise at least 500m baht, it would be worth it,” he said.

The Thai PM said in a keynote speech at the iBusiness Forum 2024 in Bangkok, “If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand. Concerts can generate added value for the economy.”

Filipino lawmaker Joey Salceda said that the deal  “isn’t what good neighbours do”. “Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt.” Although he mentioned that it boosted Singapore’s economy, it was done “at the expense of neighbouring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concertgoers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore.” He further said that the Philippines should not “just let things like these pass.”

Meanwhile, the Singapore PM confirmed that Ms Swift was provided with “certain incentives” from a government fund created to revive Singapore’s tourism sector following the Covid-19 outbreak. “It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly. Sometimes one country makes a deal, sometimes another country does. I don’t explicitly say ‘you will come here only on condition that you’ll not go to other places,” he added.

Additionally, he suggested that when Ms Swift performed shows in Sydney and Melbourne before her performance in Singapore, Australia may have come to similar “mutually acceptable, sensible arrangements.” “If that’s what’s needed to be done to get an outcome which is mutually beneficial and which, from Singapore’s point of view, serves not just to grow the economy but also to bring in visitors and goodwill from all over the region, I don’t see why not,” Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said.

He stated, “If we had not made such an arrangement, would she have come to someplace else in southeast Asia or more places in southeast Asia? Maybe, maybe not. These are things that she will decide.”

EAM Dr. Jaishankar at Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam on “India in the Indo-Pacific”. Photo: Twitter/@DrSJaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on October 16 said that the cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region is in the shared interests of India and Vietnam as he underlined the significance of ASEAN centrality and highlighted the contribution of the Quad grouping.

Mr. Jaishankar, who arrived in Vietnam on Sunday on a four-day official visit, made the remarks during his address to the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam on “India in the Indo-Pacific”.

“Discussed why cooperating in the Indo-Pacific construct is in our shared interests. Underlined the significance of ASEAN centrality and highlighted the contribution of the Quad,” the Minister said in a post on platform X.

“Brought out how India and Vietnam, with their independent mindset, can promote a multipolar and rules-based global order,” he added.

The U.S., India, Japan and Australia compose the Quad, a four-way grouping. They have been stepping up cooperation in various fields such as defence and energy amid China’s increasing military and economic clout in the region.

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.

The U.S., India and several other world powers have been discussing the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners.

The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The ties between India and ASEAN have been on a significant upswing in the last few years with the focus being on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Jaishankar met his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son and discussed ways to boost cooperation in areas like trade, energy, defence and maritime security while also sharing perspectives on the Indo-Pacific, amidst China’s aggressive behaviour in the region.

Mr. Jaishankar also attended a meeting of the 18th India-Vietnam Joint Commission in Hanoi on Monday.

From Vietnam, Mr. Jaishankar will travel to Singapore for a visit from October 19 to 20.

In this photo provided by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Telegram, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony in Beijing on September 15, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

The leaders of China and Zambia announced an upgrading of their ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on September 15, as the world’s second-largest economy forges deeper ties with the Global South.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also met new Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet earlier the same day, and with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this week.

The trio of leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America speak to China’s growing role in those parts of the world. Chinese state banks have financed roads and other infrastructure projects and Chinese companies have built factories, mines, hotels and casinos.

China has in turn won diplomatic support from many Global South countries on contentious debates and votes at the U.N. and from Cambodia in China’s territorial disputes with other Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

Its outreach to the Global South has taken on greater geopolitical import as China seeks allies to push back against growing pressure from the United States and its partners on multiple fronts.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported online that Mr. Xi and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema announced the upgraded partnership at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, a monumental building on one side of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

That came two days after China announced it had upgraded diplomatic ties with Venezuela to an “all weather” partnership — a status China has granted to only a handful of countries — after the Xi-Maduro meeting.

Development loans from China and others have saddled some countries, including Zambia, with unsustainable debt levels, sparking debt crises that stymie economic development. More than 40% of Cambodia’s $10 billion in foreign debt is owed to Chinese institutions.

Hun Manet made China his first official foreign visit after succeeding his father, Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for 40 years.

The U.S. had shown disapproval of Hun Sen’s undemocratic moves and is uneasy over the expansion of a Cambodian naval facility with Chinese assistance. Hun Sen consistently denied that Cambodia had granted China the right to set up its own military base at Ream Naval Base.

After his meetings in Beijing, Mr. Hun Manet plans to join other Southeast Asian leaders this weekend in southern China at the 20th ASEAN-China Expo, which promotes cooperation in trade, investment and tourism.

New Delhi:

Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Indonesia visit for the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summit ‘important’ just two days before the G20 Summit, the Indian ambassador to ASEAN Jayant Khobragade on Tuesday said that the visit shows how India gives importance to this region and to ASEAN centrality.

“The Prime Minister of India is coming here, despite of G20 Summit. This shows the kind of importance that we give to this region. When we talk about Act East policy, as you know in the early 90s, we had the Look East policy, then our Prime Minister of India in 2014 gave us the Act East policy, then again it evolved into Indo Pacific Oceans initiative, and it became a more comprehensive,” Khobragade said while speaking to ANI here.

“We always give importance to ASEAN centrality. And when we say ASEAN centrality, which means, it’s complex of many things. It’s about connectivity, trade, investment, people-to-people contact. I must also mention the civilisational connection between India and ASEAN, if you go to different countries here you will see, like many monuments, which you can relate to, so, if you take this sum total, then you realize how important this region is and therefore there has always been the focus of the government of India, on this region,” he added.

Speaking further about how the summit becomes more significant given China’s expansionist policy and aggressive stance in the Indo-Pacific, the envoy emphasized the importance of UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and that India wants the region to grow and prosper.

“This region is very important for trade which happens mainly through maritime routes. Now, if there is no freedom of navigation, there could be problems. Therefore, we have always emphasised that UNCLOS which is the Convention, is like a constitution about the freedom of navigation, etc. So, we reiterate the importance of that, because we want this region to grow to prosper”, said the envoy.

Speaking about the India – ASEAN trade relationship, the envoy highlighted that India’s trade was worth $130 billion during 2022-23.

“If you look at the calendar year, then this financial year it (trade) was like around 130$ billion total trade, just next to European Union. So second largest, but like, all FTAs, this ASEAN India – Free Trade Agreement also needs to be contemplated and therefore, that review is happening. The Ministry of Commerce is fully involved in it and you need negotiation with their counterparts. We hope that this review is quite complex, you know, so they already have identified the priority area etc. And they desire to complete it by 2025”, said the envoy.

Prime Minister will depart Delhi on the night of September 6 and return late evening on September 7. Given that the G20 Summit follows shortly after the ASEAN Summit, it will be a short visit.

Earlier during the briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar said India appreciates the Indonesian Government for making adjustments to the ASEAN meeting schedule so as to facilitate the Prime Minister’s program and his early return.

PM Modi will participate in the ASEAN India Summit along with heads of state or government of the ASEAN member states. East Asia Summit brings together ASEAN members and eight Dialogue Partners, which are Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

This comes as the 9th ASEAN India Summit to be attended by PM Modi. The Summit is the first one after the elevation of India’s ASEAN relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership which happened last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)