The Association of Southeast Nations, abbreviated as ASEAN, conducts meetings with all the Southeast Asian countries as its members, known as the ASEAN summit. At this summit, all the member countries discuss subjects like economy, politics, development of security, and other socio-cultural development methods.  

The ASEAN conducts meetings with the three other countries known as dialogue partners. These countries are China, Japan, and South Korea, and this association is collectively known as ASEAN +3. There is also another dialogue partner known as ASEAN +CER, including Australia and New Zealand.

Now let us know about the 19th ASEAN summit, held in Indonesia.

19th ASEAN Summit Indonesia Theme

The 19th ASEAN summit was held with the theme of “ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations”. 

Dr Susiolo Bambang Yudhoyono, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, headed this summit as the chair of ASEAN in 2011. The heads of the government of all the member nations were present at this summit. The Secretary-General of ASEAN also attended it.

The summit had three main objectives :

  1. To ensure significant progress in achieving the aims of the ASEAN Community.
  2. To ensure the development of regional architecture and the regional environment in all possible ways.
  3. To ensure the enhancement of the association’s role in the Global Community.

In this summit, the priority was to enhance the regional disaster management capacity with the help of all the member states of the association.

The summit also agreed to adopt all significant outcomes under the pillars of the ASEAN community that aims at:

  1. Equitable development in the economy.
  2. Comprehensive partnership in the economy.
  3. Commitment to eradicate discrimination, lessen the no of new HIV infections, and prevent any further deaths due to AIDS.

ASEAN Community Building

Three pillars comprise the foundation of the ASEAN community: socio-political cooperation, economic cooperation, and socio-cultural cooperation.

The few main objectives of the ASEAN community are:

  • To accelerate growth in the economy of the member states.
  • To maintain and promote the peace and stability by instilling respect for justice.
  • To encourage the member states to abide by the rule of law. It culminates in improving the relations between the member countries.

The ASEAN community is the collection of three other communities:

  1. The ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC)
  2. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)
  3. The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC)

Let us now learn about these communities in brief:

APSC:

This community aims to maintain the peace between the member countries and make sure the countries abide by the rule of law. Thus, it ensures that all the countries maintain harmony and live in a democratic environment. 

It also provides the peaceful resolution of any conflicts between the countries and prevents war situations amongst the countries that share conflicts and borders.

AEC:

The main motto of this community is to make a single market for all the member countries. 

There is a subsequent single base for the production of goods, free flow of service, and availability of skilled labour for all the member countries. Thus, it encourages the proper and equal economic growth of all the member countries.

ASCC:

The main aim of this community is to ensure they enhance the quality of the people living in the member countries. They also intend to uplift the socially and culturally backward areas by implementing social and urban development programs.

TAC (Treaty of Amity and Cooperation)

This treaty was established and agreed upon by all ASEAN member countries for peaceful co-existence in 1976. 

It ensures the peaceful existence of all the southeast nations by binding them into a legal code that maintains the inter-state relations in the region and beyond.

Documents Signed by the Ministers at the 19th ASEAN Summit

The ministers of the member states signed the declaration of ASEAN unity in cultural diversity: this will work towards strengthening the community of the association. They also signed the declaration on giving access to the treaty of amity and cooperation to the Federative Republic of Brazil.

They signed an agreement about establishing the ASEAN coordinating centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.

Joint Statement

There was a joint statement regarding the ASEAN-US meeting of leaders at that summit in Indonesia.

Another joint statement about the 14th ASEAN-China summit will mark the 20th anniversary of the Dialogue Partnership.

ASEAN Secretariat News

  • The ASEAN secretariat will get more space in Jakarta, as discussed at the summit.
  • There was a discussion regarding the closer relations of the secretariats of ASEAN and the UN.
  • The ASEAN discussed advancing forestry cooperation as well.
  • The summit discussed the liberalisation of the ASEAN-China trade. 

Conclusion

This article provides information about the ASEAN and its different aspects. It discusses the community, its aspects, the ASEAN vision, its three pillars, the 19th ASEAN summit, how the TAC works in the peacemaking field, and how the ASEAN plays a role maintain the harmony between the southeast Asian countries and their development. 

We also learned about the joint statements and the news on the topics discussed at the 19th ASEAN summit and the documents that the member nations signed. Finally, we understood how the countries are bound by the rule of law which lets the peaceful resolution of the international conflicts.