Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has stressed that ASEAN needs to maintain its centrality, define the agenda and priorities for the East Asia Summit,and build on the Summit’s role in addressing issues of strategic importance.

The diplomat made the appeal during the Special Informal ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Bangkok on April 10-11.

Minh affirmed that the decision by the 2010 Hanoi ASEAN Summit to extend the EAS to include Russia and the US bears strategic significance and opens up a new phase of development for the EAS.

The deputy minister also said that during its activities, the EAS must comply with the basic principles set in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia.

At the meeting, foreign ministers stressed that the EAS is a forum for leaders to dialogue and cooperate on the issues of politics, security, and economic development.

They also exchanged opinions on some prominent international and regional affairs in recent times.

Source: VOV