ASEAN Chief pleas for bloc’s ‘centrality’

INDONESIA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must remain at the core of regional affairs despite competing visions for a new Asia-Pacific diplomatic framework, the bloc’s Chief said Friday.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the “plethora of regional architectures that has been proposed in recent times” suggested that the 10-nation bloc no longer had a central role in the “evolving regional make-up”. But in a statement defending ASEAN’s relevance, the former Thai Foreign Minister said US President Barack Obama’s decision to re-engage with the 42-year-old grouping had “debunked that theory”.

“ASEAN centrality has received a crucial boost at a time when recent developments seemed to question it.” Leaders at a summit of 16 Asia-Pacific nations in Thailand in October heard the Prime Ministers of Australia and Japan map out different paths for a new regional bloc that would boost Asia’s global clout.

 AFP