All Singapore, which is chairing the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, can do is to help facilitate and act out the common will of ASEAN, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo was Saturday quoted by local media as saying.
Asked what Singapore would consider a desirable outcome of the summit, Yeo said at an exclusive interview with Singapore reporters Thursday, "In the chair, our responsibility is to receive the ball from the Filipino Chair without dropping it, take it forward and pass it to the Thais who are next in the Chair, without dropping it."
"So it's not that we are initiating new policies or deciding on big things. We are part of a process in ASEAN and while we are in the chair, we have certain responsibilities to further the common cause and when sudden events come upon us like Myanmar we act responsibly, and that's what we have tried hard to do for this Summit," he said.
"It's not as if we are taking charge and making decisions on behalf of others," he added.
"I would say if we can have a good common position on Myanmar...and then work together with our East Asia Summit (EAS) colleagues and culminate in a good celebration of the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-European relations, then we would have done well," Yeo said.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The 13th ASEAN Summit and related meetings will be held here from Nov.18 to 22.
Source: Xinhua
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