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Southeast Asian leaders opened the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Manila with a conditional opening for Myanmars military-backed administration, while acknowledging they will miss their target to finalise a South China Sea code of conduct during the Philippines' chairmanship.
According to Philstar, following a closed-door retreat at the close of the summit's first day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro read out a leaders' statement noting that the regional bloc "may consider the gradual restoration" of Myanmars full political representation, provided Naypyidaw demonstrates tangible progress on ASEANs five-year-old peace framework. According to Lazaro, the bloc "decided to pursue a calibrated engagement step by step and progress-based approach on restoring Myanmar's political representation". She emphasised that Myanmars authorities must first fulfil the five-point consensus demand to halt ongoing violence. "We want to see how Myanmar responds to that because right now there are still certain bombings and displacement of Myanmar people," Lazaro told journalists, as quoted by Philstar. As Philstar.com noted, ASEAN once again excluded Myanmars military chief and president, Min Aung Hlaing, from the top-level gathering due to the junta's continued disregard for the peace plan. Min Aung Hlaing, who orchestrated the 2021 military takeover, assumed the presidency in April following a junta-organised election that barred major opposition groups. Myanmar was instead represented at the Manila summit by the director-general of its foreign ministry.On maritime disputes, Lazaro disclosed that ASEAN and China have provisionally agreed on roughly 80% of the long-stalled South China Sea code of conducta milestone that confirms Manila will fall short of completing the pact before its chairmanship concludes, Philstar reported. Citing conflicting positions among the negotiating parties, Lazaro said there was simply "not enough time" to finish the agreement. Three out of four core sticking pointsincluding whether the code will carry legally binding forceremain unsettled as stewardship of the talks shifts to incoming chair Singapore.Philstar also reported that transboundary haze stemming from Indonesian forest fires featured prominently in the Day 1 discussions, with leaders examining stricter penalties against the corporations and individuals responsible. Member states were pressed to expedite the ratification of an agreement establishing the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control, with Lazaro remarking that Indonesia had been "very frank" regarding its mitigation efforts. Across broader regional initiatives, Lazaro announced that roughly 100 outcome documents were either adopted or noted during the proceedings, covering areas such as the creation of an ASEAN Maritime Centre and measures to combat the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Additionally, the first day marked the formal handover of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which trade negotiators wrapped up in May and signed over the weekend. Leaders further called for accelerated progress on the Asian Development Bank-backed ASEAN Power Grid alongside the complete implementation of the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement.Earlier in the day, the bloc confirmed its upcoming leadership rotation, announcing that Timor-Lesteadmitted as ASEAN's 11th member state in 2025will assume the chairmanship in 2029, following Singapore in 2027 and Thailand in 2028, per Philstar. To reflect the bloc's expansion, the summits opening ceremony debuted a redesigned ASEAN flag and emblem featuring an 11th rice stalk representing Timor-Leste. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Manila for a three-day visit to attend the annual India-ASEAN Summit, which is expected to focus on advancing maritime security cooperation alongside expanding economic and commercial partnerships. He will also attend the annual East Asia Summit, with the Philippines hosting these diplomatic gatherings in its official capacity as the current chair of the 11-member regional bloc. Throughout the India-ASEAN and East Asia summits, New Delhi intends to advocate intensified naval and maritime coordination among like-minded Indo-Pacific states. (ANI)
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