New Zealand. South Korea. United States. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia on 14 December The concept of an East Asia Grouping has significant history going back to an idea first promoted in by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Prior to the first meeting there was significant discussion as to which countries should be represented.

The East Asia Summit is a unique Leaders-led forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity. It has evolved as a forum for strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and economic issues of common regional concern and plays an important role in the regional architecture. Established in , EAS allows the principal players in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss issues of common interest and concern, in an open and transparent manner, at the highest level. Twelve East Asia Summits have been held so far. India has been a part of this process since its inception in in Kuala Lumpur and the fact that Indian Prime Ministers have participated in all the Summits, stands testimony to the importance India attaches to this process. There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS.

This site All sites. The Asian-African Conference. In December of the same year, the five Prime Ministers of Burma, Ceylon Sri Lanka , India, Indonesia and Pakistan held a conference in Bogor, Indonesia and reached an agreement on convening an Asian-African conference and decided that the conference would be jointly proposed by the five countries. After two days of plenary sessions, the conference was divided into three committees, namely political, economic and cultural. And they deliberated behind closed door for five days during which they discussed such issues as national sovereignty, racism, nationalism and struggles against colonialism, world peace and economic and cultural cooperation among the participating countries.

While the context for the current ASEAN summit is less gloomy, the region is still experiencing difficult times and faces many complex challenges. As the summit came to a close on Friday, the following five conclusions can be drawn: there is movement in the South China Sea; the major powers continue to rely on ASEAN; joint pressure on Myanmar seems to be bearing fruit; the economic integration of ASEAN is progressing; and, the US under President Trump has become a less reliable partner than the region wishes for. Before Thailand officially takes over the annual rotating ASEAN Chairmanship, the Chairman-in-Office spelled out his priorities for the future development of the Association in a highly anticipated plenary address. Nonetheless, despite first positive signs at the beginning of the week, expectations were not met entirely.