Japan to chair first quadrilateral meeting in Manila next week

Japan to chair first quadrilateral meeting in Manila next week

Context

• Japan will chair the first quadrilateral meeting between senior officials of India, US, Australia and Japan on the margins of the ASEAN and East Asia summits in Manila on November 13-14

What is ASEAN?

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.
• India’s relationship with ASEAN is an outcome of the significant changes in the world’s political and economic scenario since the early 1990s.

Look East Policy

‘Look East Policy’ is India’s research for economic space.

• The Look East Policy has today turned into a dynamic and action oriented ‘Act East Policy.
• PM at the 12th ASEAN India Summit and the 9th East Asia Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in November, 2014, formally enunciated the Act East Policy.
• India’s relationship with ASEAN is a key pillar of our foreign policy and the foundation of our Act East Policy.

What is the significance of the meet?

• The meet comes after Japan publicly proposed the quadrilateral with India, US and Australia and then Canberra indicated its willingness to be a part of the political-security dialogue among the four democracies
• The meet aims to counter China’s aggressive maritime expansion under its Belt and Road Initiative.
• Some ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values —
  • Freedom of navigation
  • Maritime security
  • Humanitarian assistance
  • Disaster response
  • Transparency

The policy of non-interference

• The original policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states was noteworthy.
• China and India’s emergence as major economic powers has lent greater urgency to trade liberalization.
• It then in 2007 led to adopting a legal charter with a mandate to establish free movement of goods, services, capital and skilled personnel by ASEAN.
• With the 2015 launch of the ASEAN Economic Community, the bloc is on the threshold of realizing its ambition of emerging as an integrated single market and to engage the rest of the world with a unified voice.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during the East Asia summit.

What is the East Asia Summit?

• The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.
• The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian regions.
• Membership expanded to 18 countries including the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
• EAS meetings are held after annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings.