ASEAN, U.S. establish comprehensive strategic partnership

The move “reflects the ambitious outcomes of the 9thASEAN-U.S. Summit and the 2022 ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit and to open new areas of cooperation vital to the future prosperity and security of our combined one billion people, and task our officials to follow up on its implementation”, according to ASEAN-U.S. leaders’ statement released Saturday. 

The leaders reaffirmed their steadfast support for an open, transparent, resilient, inclusive, and rules-based ASEAN-centered regional architecture at the heart of the Indo-Pacific region that promotes ASEAN’s strong, unified, and constructive role in addressing regional issues of common concern, reads the statement. 

The leaders also reaffirmed the importance of adhering to key principles, shared values and norms enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the ASEAN Charter, the Declaration on Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN), the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)../.