The 48th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) foreign ministers meet was held between August 4 and August 6, 2015 were foreign ministers and representatives from 10 Southeast Asian countries were represented in Kuala Lumpur.
• The meet was chaired by Anifah Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia.
• The main focus of this meet was establishment of the ASEAN Community by the end of year 2015.
• The main theme of this meet was “Our People, Our Community, Our Vision”, to create an ASEAN community which is truly people- oriented, people centered comprising all areas of cooperation.
• By establishing the ASEAN Community, the region is hoping to enhance its role as a global player and be more active in the international community.
• The foreign Ministers of ASEAN discussed regional and international issues as well as their ongoing efforts to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
• The foreign Ministers had also made productive discussion revolving round the theme of the meet.
• The ASEAN foreign ministers meet was participated by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs of India Gen (Retd) VK Singh.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations:
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization of ten Southeast Asian countries.
• It was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
• Its aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, and sociocultural evolution among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to resolve differences peacefully.
• ASEAN covers a land area of 4.4 million square kilometers, 3% of the total land area of the Earth.
• In 2015, the organization’s combined nominal GDP had grown to more than US$2.6 trillion.
• If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the seventh largest economy in the world, behind the US, China, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.