Manila: Day one of the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Manila wrapped up with leaders extending a ban on Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing as well as the signing of a new digital trade pact.
The leaders also acknowledged that they will miss their target to finalise a South China Sea code of conduct during the current chairmanship by Philippines.
India is a strategic partner of the 11-member regional grouping, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Timor-Leste.
The three-day summit, which includes scheduled talks with world leaders led by US President Donald Trump, will focus on conflicts, including the war in Myanmar, according to drafts of post-summit communiques seen by The Associated Press.
Southeast Asian leaders said Sunday that Myanmar has failed to comply with a 2021 peace plan and that its military and other armed groups continue to attack civilians, prompting them to extend a ban on Myanmar's leader Min Aung Hlaing from attending the bloc's annual summits.
Hlaing, who orchestrated the 2021 military takeover, assumed the presidency of Myanmar in April following a junta-organised election that barred major opposition groups. Myanmar was instead represented at the Manila summit by the director-general of its foreign ministry.
According to Philstar, following a closed-door retreat at the close of the summit's first day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro read out a leaders' statement noting that the regional bloc "may consider the gradual restoration" of Myanmar’s full political representation, provided Naypyidaw demonstrates tangible progress on ASEAN’s five-year-old peace framework.
According to Lazaro, the bloc "decided to pursue a calibrated engagement step by step and progress-based approach on restoring Myanmar's political representation".
The leaders said the ban on Myanmar's leader and foreign minister attending ASEAN summit meetings would continue “until there is meaningful progress in the implementation” of the peace plan. The plan calls, among others, for an immediate end to hostilities and the start of dialogue mediated by the regional bloc's special envoy.
Under the ban, Myanmar can be represented only by lower-level career diplomats, including at the ongoing ASEAN meetings in Manila. Myanmar was due to hold ASEAN's rotating chair this year and host its multiple regional meetings, but because of the civil strife, the role passed to the Philippines.
On maritime disputes, Lazaro disclosed that ASEAN and China have provisionally agreed on roughly 80 per cent of the long-stalled South China Sea code of conduct - a milestone that confirms Manila will fall short of completing the pact before its chairmanship concludes, Philstar reported.
Citing conflicting positions among the negotiating parties, Lazaro said there was simply "not enough time" to finish the agreement. Three out of four core sticking points - including whether the code will carry legally binding force - remain unsettled as stewardship of the talks shifts to incoming chair Singapore.
Philstar also reported that transboundary haze stemming from Indonesian forest fires featured prominently in the Day one discussions, with leaders examining stricter penalties against the corporations and individuals responsible.
Member states were pressed to expedite the ratification of an agreement establishing the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control, with Lazaro remarking that Indonesia had been "very frank" regarding its mitigation efforts.
Across broader regional initiatives, Lazaro announced that roughly 100 outcome documents were either adopted or noted during the proceedings, covering areas such as the creation of an ASEAN Maritime Centre and measures to combat the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
Additionally, the first day marked the formal handover of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which trade negotiators wrapped up in May and signed over the weekend.
Leaders further called for accelerated progress on the Asian Development Bank-backed ASEAN Power Grid alongside the complete implementation of the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement.
Earlier in the day, the bloc confirmed its upcoming leadership rotation, announcing that Timor-Leste - admitted as ASEAN's 11th member state in 2025 - will assume the chairmanship in 2029, following Singapore in 2027 and Thailand in 2028, per Philstar.
To reflect the bloc's expansion, the summit’s opening ceremony debuted a redesigned ASEAN flag and emblem featuring an 11th rice stalk representing Timor-Leste.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Manila for a three-day visit to attend the annual India-ASEAN Summit, which is expected to focus on advancing maritime security cooperation alongside expanding economic and commercial partnerships.
He will also attend the annual East Asia Summit, with the Philippines hosting these diplomatic gatherings in its official capacity as the current chair of the 11-member regional bloc.
Throughout the India-ASEAN and East Asia summits, New Delhi intends to advocate intensified naval and maritime coordination among like-minded Indo-Pacific states.
(With inputs from AP via PTI & ANI)