But with tensions rising in the Indo-Pacific, where ASEAN continues to negotiate its central role, the bloc is being asked to manage expectations that rival superpowers will respect its norms when even some of its most reasonable frameworks for maintaining peace and stability have stalled.

Southeast Asia’s top diplomats regularly meet with their cohorts from 11 dialogue partners in a series of so-called post-ministerial conferences (PMCs) to fill out some of the region’s most important partnerships behind closed doors.

On Thursday, Indonesia led talks with Russia, Australia, China and the European Union, with the intention of collecting reassurances that they would respect ASEAN’s centrality and assuage the region’s security concerns.

Starkest among the security threats was the likelihood of nuclear proliferation, a danger that ASEAN has attempted to thwart by getting nuclear-weapon states (NWSs) to accede to a protocol of the 1995 Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty.

So far, none of the five recognized NWSs, China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France, have signed up for the Bangkok Treaty.

Flurry of meetings

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