EAM S Jaishankar to represent India at 15th East Asia Summit today

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar will represent India at the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) today which will discuss ways to strengthen the platform and to make it more responsive to emerging challenges on its 15th anniversary.

The virtual summit will be chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc and will see the participation of all eighteen east Asian countries.

The External Affairs Ministry in a release said, the leaders at the summit will also exchange views on issues of international and regional interest including the COVID-19 pandemic and the cooperation among EAS



participating countries to achieve an expeditious and sustainable economic recovery.

Established in 2005, the EAS is a leaders-led forum that provides a platform for discussion on important strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific region.

It is a regional grouping of 18 participating countries i.e. 10 ASEAN countries that includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), besides Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. India is a founding member of EAS.