• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the 21st East Asia Summit (EAS), being hosted by the Philippines in Manila on November 17.
• Apart from the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states, the East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Russia.
• The East Asia Summit will provide an opportunity to exchange views on matters of regional and global importance with ASEAN and other participating countries.
• Malaysia hosted the summit in 2025.
What is East Asia Summit?
• The East Asia Summit is the Indo-Pacific’s premier forum for strategic dialogue. It is the only leader-led forum at which all key partners meet to discuss political, security and economic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific, and has an important role to play in advancing closer regional cooperation.
• Established in 2005, EAS allows the principal players in the Indo-Pacific region to discuss issues of common interest and concern, in an open and transparent manner, at the highest level.
• The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by the then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad.
• The final report of the East Asian Study Group in 2002, established by the ASEAN+3 countries (China, Japan and South Korea), recommended EAS as an ASEAN-led development limited to the ASEAN+3 countries.
• However, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) held in Vientiane in July 2005 welcomed the participation of ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand, in the first East Asia Summit.
• The US and the Russian Federation were formally included members of the East Asia Summit at the 6th East Asia Summit held in Bali, Indonesia in November 2011.
• Since its inception, it has played a significant role in the strategic, geopolitical and economic evolution of East Asia.
Members of East Asia Summit
• The EAS has 19 members — the 11 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
• The Chair of ASEAN is also the Chair of the EAS.
• The Philippines is the 2026 ASEAN Chair, and its Chair year theme is ‘Navigating Our Future, Together’.
• The Chair sets the EAS priorities for the year, in consultation with EAS participating countries, and hosts most EAS meetings.
• The role rotates annually between the 11 ASEAN Member States.
• Singapore will Chair in 2027 and Thailand in 2028.
• According to estimates, EAS members represent 54 per cent of the world’s population and account for 62 per cent of global GDP.
• India is a founding member of the East Asia Summit.