The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings were held online on Wednesday due to the risks of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Later in the week, the 10-nation bloc’s foreign ministers are scheduled to meet their Asian and western counterparts for talks, concluding in the annual security forum.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told reporters earlier this week that the talks would continue to focus on regional response to the pandemic and help member states recover economically.

The key takeaways of the talks are as follows-

Estabishment of COVID-19 response fund for member countries

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung told reporters earlier this week that the negotiations would continue to focus on a regional response to the pandemic and ways to help member states recover economically.

To help member countries deal with the aftermath of a raging pandemic, a COVID-19 response fund will be established. The response fund will help member countries buy medical supplies and protective suits.

Thailand has pledged to contribute $100,000, and ASEAN partners, including China, Japan, and South Korea, were expected to announce contributions, according to a senior Southeast Asian diplomat.

2. Establishment of ASEAN Center on Public health emergencies

The AP report said that Japan will research the possibility of establishing an ASEAN center on public health emergencies. The result of the research will pave the path to ASEAN countries dealing with coronavirus-like pandemic effectively.

3. US-China confirm their attendance in Asia’s largest security forum

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, declared that Washington regards all of China’s maritime claims illegitimate and remains neutral in territorial disputes, but the Trump administration has sided with the four ASEAN claimant states and Indonesia – all the countries that opposed China’s claims on the entire waterway.

Amidst these territorial disputes, China reportedly fired two test missiles in the south China disputes. While these territorial disputes are far from over, both China and the US have confirmed their attendance in the ASEAN Regional Forum on Saturday, Asia’s largest security forum.

(With inputs from AP)

First Published:Sept 9, 2020 3:01 PM IST