East Asia Summit

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Search 14th November, 2018 Spotlight here: http://www.newsonair.com/Audio-Archive-Search.aspx

TOPIC: General Studies 2:

• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate’

East Asia Summit: The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian regions, based on the ASEAN plus Six mechanism.

The members of East Asia Summit consists of 10 ASEAN nations (Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos), Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.

Aim: To further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity; 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.

Six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS–

• Environment and Energy
• Education
• Finance
• Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases
• Natural Disaster Management
• ASEAN Connectivity

This year –

• East Asia Summit (EAS) members agreed to do more to tackle returning foreign fighters, beef up cyber security, and ensure the safe and secure use, storage and transport of nuclear and other radioactive materials.
• They also said they would press on with efforts on the Asean Smart Cities Network, a flagship deliverable under Singapore’s Asean chairmanship this year, and the fight against plastic litter in the oceans.
• EAS members pledged to get the public – including young people, women, families, religious leaders and community groups – more involved in efforts to inoculate the community against violent extremism.
• They also agreed to share information on foreign fighters – including on their movements and financial information – in a timely manner, and do more to stop them from crossing borders.
• In terms of cyber security: The EAS members are determined to promote secure and resilient information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure, noting that this can contribute to regional security and stability.
  • They will work together to promote an open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful ICT environment – which is critical to connectivity and economic development – and, recognising that some states may lack the capacity to protect their networks, provide help on issues such as developing technical skills.
  • They also recognised the importance of strengthening cooperation on personal data protection. They said they would address the digital divide and development gap by supporting initiatives such as helping micro, small and medium-sized enterprises make use of these technologies.

2018 East India Summit and India

• India’s commitment to an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and desire for maritime cooperation were highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the East Asia Summit and ASEAN-India Summit.
• He reaffirmed “cooperation in maritime domain and centrality of trade and investment towards prosperity of Indo-Pacific.
• Shared his thoughts on enhancing multilateral cooperation, economic and cultural ties among member nations and reiterated India’s commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Pacific region.

Conclusion

In order to succeed, the EAS must work on creating tangible results, rather than non-binding statements, on the economic side and carry this ethos over to political and security matters. However, the current function of the EAS is to serve merely as a “forum” for “dialogue.” This needs to change urgently.