As an evolving concept, “Indo-Pacific” has become a catch-all term used by world leaders to express their interest for a regional order straddling the Indian and Pacific oceans, albeit with a variety of interpretations.

Indonesia has been pushing for ASEAN to have its own stance on the matter, saying that an ASEAN-led Indo-Pacific regional architecture should be discussed at the EAS, because it already consisted of 10 ASEAN member states and countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia and India — which all have their unique takes on the subject matter.

Jakarta has also advocated for an inclusive regional order that involves the likes of China and South Korea.

The head of the Foreign Ministry’s policy analysis and development agency, Siswo Pramono, called the upcoming meeting a “national initiative” that reinforced the wider process of developing an inclusive Indo-Pacific strategy.

“There are two parallel processes: One is the process for a common ASEAN concept on the Indo-Pacific, which is being discussed at the ASEAN level […]. This meeting is to reinforce that process — not by ASEAN per se — but from a national [perspective],” he said at a press briefing on Monday.

In the meantime, the Southeast Asian collective outlook is still under discussion among senior officials.

Siswo argued that a national initiative outside of the ASEAN framework was not entirely new, because current ASEAN chair Thailand had held a similar event — albeit at a different level and with a different format — in Bangkok last year, when Singapore was still chairing the group.

“Obviously this will be in line with the ASEAN concept, because those who attend the meeting are friends from ASEAN,” Siswo said. “They only need a forum that [allows more freedom] to synergize with one another in a friendly atmosphere.”

The countries that already had their own take on the Indo-Pacific concept happened to be members of the EAS, and as such were “not strangers to each other” — making Wednesday’s forum ideal for open discussions.

“We want to create a dynamic [and] informal forum, where each of these countries can talk about their respective concepts — not to prove which one is better, but to [provide explanations] to one another,” he said.

The forum could then tease out commonalities that could be used as the basis for new concrete cooperation initiatives, whether bilateral, triangular or multilateral in nature.

In accordance with its name, high-ranking officials from 18 key countries in the Indo-Pacific region were expected to attend, said Desra Percaya, the ministry’s Asia Pacific and African affairs director general.

He said the meeting was convened to build trust among countries in the region. “[For us] it is Indonesia’s concrete effort and a contribution to the strengthening of the dialogue mechanism in the ASEAN framework, for deeper and more inclusive cooperation in the region,” Desra said.

Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei Darussalam are to be represented by their foreign ministers, while China, India, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam will be represented by deputy foreign ministers. Meanwhile, the US, Russia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines will be represented by senior officials.

The meeting will be opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and will have two closed-door sessions, a general debate led by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and a thematic debate on sustainable development goals, maritime cooperation, connectivity and infrastructure.

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