“Agreement in principle” to include East Timor in the League
ASEAN Summit opens with a call for unity in the region and the world
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen opens the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh.
Reuters
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen opened the activities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit yesterday, with a call for unity in the region and the world.
Hun Sen, who is chairing the annual conference, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony yesterday morning, hailing the association and its diplomatic efforts to ensure peace.
He said: ASEAN was "a community that remains pivotal to the evolving regional structure that builds external partnerships on the basis of mutual trust and respect for peace, security and sustainable growth at the regional and global levels."
Cambodia's prime minister warned his fellow Southeast Asian leaders against inaction, saying that although economies are gradually recovering as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, there is a lot of work to be done.
Hun Sen said the region was "now going through the most uncertain period" as it seeks to promote "peace, security and sustainable growth".
The summit will be held from November 10 to 13 in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, and the authorities have closed all roads leading to the building to pedestrians and street vendors who usually crowd the riverside roads.
Cambodian authorities deployed 10,000 security personnel to secure the summit, including police teams and armored vehicles.
The leaders of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met at a hotel in the Cambodian capital, to take a group photo, which was absent from the head of the Myanmar military council.
Min Aung Hlaing was not invited to the top for the second year in a row.
The group barred Myanmar's leaders from participating in its high-level events, such as the ongoing summit in Phnom Penh, in an effort to pressure them to comply with ASEAN's Five Point Peace Plan.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, whose country holds the rotating ASEAN presidency after Cambodia, told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that he had proposed extending the ban on Myanmar's political representatives beyond the summit and the foreign ministers meeting to include other events - something that groups had demanded. human rights.
He said, "Indonesia is very disappointed that the situation in Myanmar is getting worse... We should not allow the situation in Myanmar to define ASEAN."
The ASEAN plan calls for immediate cessation of violence, dialogue among all parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid and the visit of the Special Envoy to Myanmar to meet with all parties.
The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reached a preliminary agreement on the accession of East Timor to the regional organization, as they announced during their annual summit in Phnom Penh.
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