​​​​​​​The summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened on Sunday in Malaysia, where leaders welcomed East Timor as its 11th member, marking the bloc’s first expansion in 26 years.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is hosting the 47th summit, which runs through Tuesday. Malaysia is the chair of the bloc, which is the fifth time since 1967.
At the opening ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, leaders attended a signing ceremony to officially admit East Timor, which first applied for membership in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022.
ASEAN, a regional organisation founded in Bangkok on August 8, 1967, consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Malaysian Prime Minister Ibrahim is hosting leaders from ASEAN member states, along with leaders and top officials from the US, South Africa, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea and other key partners, for the summit under the theme, “Inclusivity and Sustainability”.
US President Donald Trump is attending the summit where, alongside Anwar, he will attend the signing of a peace accord between Cambodia and Thailand, which saw deadly border clashes in July.
A nation of 1.3 million people, East Timor gained independence in 2002 and is the first nation to join the bloc of Southeast Asian nations since Cambodia’s admission in 1999.
___
Source: TRT