Why in news?  Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in 18th East Asia Summit in Jakarta,Indonesia. The Summit was chaired by H.E. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia.

Highlights:

• India highlighted synergies of visions for Indo-Pacific between India and ASEAN, and underscored that ASEAN is the focal point of Quad’s vision

East Asia Summit

• Regional forum
• Founded – 2005
• Idea was proposed by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1991.
• First summit was held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.
• Membership
  • 18 countries
  • 10 ASEAN countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam
  • Other Eight members: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States
• India is founding member of EAS since 2005
• Priority areas – There are 6 priority area – Environment and Energy, Education,
• Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity