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ASEAN Summit: Indonesia invites EAS leaders to reduce regional tensions
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo opens the 18th ASEAN - EAS Summit in Jakarta on Sept. 7 (TiuTube Channel of the Presidential Secretariat)
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t the ASEAN Summit, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo invited the leaders of the East Asia Summit (EAS) member countries to work together to reduce tensions and create peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
"We all share the same responsibility not to create new conflicts, not to escalate tensions, not to initiate new wars," Jokowi said at the opening of the 18th ASEAN-EAS Summit in Jakarta on Sept. 7.
At the same time, he reminded the leaders of EAS countries to reduce "hot tensions" and thaw the icy atmosphere to create a space for dialogue to bridge differences.
Jokowi then mentioned that since its inception in 1967, ASEAN had been committed to making the region a center of growth or an epicenter of growth.
"So, ASEAN will continue to play a role as a contributor to peace and stability. ASEAN will highly appreciate it if this East Asia Summit can agree on a leader's statement regarding the commitment to continue making this region an epicenter of growth," Jokowi stated.
He urged all EAS leaders to use this forum to strengthen collaboration and cooperation, rather than turning it into an arena for sharpening rivalries.
"I invite all leaders to show wisdom, to demonstrate their leadership, so that this meeting is successful and truly beneficial to the people of the world. Here, the world community will assess whether we are leaders with the wisdom to make the world a better place for all," said Jokowi.
EAS is an open regional forum that emerged in the East Asian region in 2005.
At its inception, there were 16 EAS countries, consisting of the 10 ASEAN countries, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
The United States and the Russian Federation officially joined at the 6th EAS Summit in Bali in November 2011, bringing the total number of EAS countries to 18.
The EAS is a leaders’ summit with ASEAN as the driving force in the partnership with other member countries.
For the 18th EAS Summit this year, Indonesia, as the chair of ASEAN, also invited Timor-Leste as an observer, Bangladesh as the chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Cook Islands as the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
