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New `optimism' over East Asia summit

P.S. Suryanarayana

Officials from 16 countries hold discussions to prepare the ground for the meet

SINGAPORE: Senior officials from 16 countries, including India, have held discussions in Kuala Lumpur to prepare the ground for the first-ever East Asia summit (EAS) to be held there on December 14. A draft declaration was discussed on a note of "optimism" in the context of a rift among the participating countries over the exact scope of the summit.

It is understood that the EAS may express a collective commitment to deepen integration and to work towards the creation of a community in the East Asian region. The exact phraseology maybe refined by the ministers and leaders from the 16 countries.

The differences among the participants centred on whether the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations Plus Three (ASEAN+3) or the EAS, a larger forum, should be the prime mover for the formation of an "East Asian Community."

The `Plus Three' countries are China, Japan, and South Korea, while the EAS will be attended by the ASEAN+3, India, Australia, and New Zealand. The proposed "East Asian Community" will be an economic bloc with security and other dimensions.

Role of ASEAN+3

The formula, now being finalised, is understood to recognise the relevance of all the 16 EAS participants, not just the ASEAN+3, to the formation of a community in East Asia. At the same time, the role of the ASEAN+3 is expected to be kept in due focus. The ASEAN+3, which took the initiative last year for an "East Asian Community," has been in existence for several years.

The current attempt is to avoid treating the ASEAN+3 and the EAS as two antagonistic and mutually exclusive groupings. Instead, the "overlap" between the two is being emphasised for community building in the East Asian region.

Sources in the `Plus Three' camp indicated that the ASEAN would press for a final formula that could satisfy all participants. This could be done without diminishing the centrality of the ASEAN+3 as the potential "foundation" of the proposed "East Asian Community," these sources said.

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New `optimism' over East Asia summit

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