15th East Asia Summit

• 17 Nov 2020

• The 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held virtually on 14th November 2020.
• The Summit was chaired by the Prime Minister of Vietnam H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc in his capacity as ASEAN Chair. All the eighteen EAS countries participated in the virtual Summit.
• External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar represented India at the summit, which is generally represented by the Prime Minister.
• Regional and international issues such as South China Sea, situation in Korean peninsula and Rakhine state were discussed. Besides the Ha Noi Declaration, the Summit also adopted four other Leaders’ Statements on Marine Sustainability, Epidemics Prevention and Response, Women, Peace and Security, and Steady Growth of Regional Economy.

About EAS

• Established in 2005, the EAS is a premier leaders-led forum for discussions on important strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific, and a leading confidence-building mechanism in the region.
• The EAS is a regional grouping of 18 participating countries –10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US.
• India is a founding member of the EAS.
• The 18 members of the EAS together represent 54% of the world population and account for 58% of the global GDP.