Terrorism and Sea dispute remained at the center of the discussion at 27th ASEAN summit 2015

27th ASEAN media summit was held from 18th November to 22 November 2015.

Terrorism and sea dispute top the discussions at 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Main objectives of the ASEAN summit 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• The theme of the ASEAN summit 2015 was- “Our People, Our Community, Our Vision’.
• Main aim of the summit is to create a truly people-oriented, people centred ASEAN Community comprising all areas of political and security cooperation, economic growth and socio-cultural development.

Important highlights of the summit

• Regarding the East Sea issue, the leaders reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability in the sea.
• Leaders reaffirmed the need to intensifying mutual trust and understanding, and exercising restraint in deploying activities in the area in conformity with principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• Host Prime Minister Najib Razak noted the recent events that have cast a shadow over all, including the attacks in Paris and Beirut, the bombing of a Russian passenger jet over the Sinai desert and the hostage-taking incident in Bamako, Mali.

• Aside from terrorism, another hot topic for the ASEAN were the maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

Najib Razak said that, “We call on all parties to exercise self restraint and avoid actions that would complicate or escalate tension”

• In this regard, the ministers remained seriously concerned over the ongoing developments and urged all parties to exercise self restraint.
• The ministers stressed the urgent need to strengthen the full and effective implementation of the declaration on the conduct of parties in the South China Sea in its entirety as well as the expeditious establishment of an effective code of conduct.
• Beijing has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
• The 2015 ASEAN Chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, in his closing speech, said the establishment of the single community has proved worldwide that, ASEAN could become the most competitive region in Asia-Pacific and have influence on the world stage.

About ASEAN

• The ASEAN Summit is an annual meeting held by the member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in relation to economic, and cultural development of Southeast Asian countries.