East Asia Summit (EAS)

Why in news?

• Prime Minister of India participated in 16th East Asia Summit hosted by Brunei and reaffirmed India's focus on free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific as also the principle of ASEAN centrality in the region.

About EAS

• The East Asia Summit (EAS) is the Indo-Pacific's premier forum for strategic dialogue. It is established in 2005.
• It is the only leader-led forum at which all key partners meet to discuss political, security and economic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific, and has an important role to play in advancing closer regional cooperation.

Members:

• The EAS has 18 members - the ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States.
• ASEAN leads the forum, and the chair position rotates between ASEAN Member States annually.
• In 2020 EAS members represented 54 per cent of the world's population and accounted for 62 per cent of global GDP worth an estimated US$52.3 trillion.

Add ons:

• Six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS are:
  • Environment and Energy, Education, Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following statements are correct regarding East Asia Summit (EAS)?

1. The chair position rotates between ASEAN Member States annually.

2. EAS does not have any members from outside Asia

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer