Indonesia Maintains ASEAN's Central Position at East Asia Summit

Indonesia will maintain ASEAN’s central position at the 6th East Asia Summit (EAS) which will be held in Bali next November 19, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said here on Tuesday.

"Indonesia will maintain ASEAN’s role as the driving force of EAS by showing good leadership and providing new motivation to other ASEAN member countries at the upcoming meeting in Bali," said Michael.

He expressed optimism that EAS cooperation centering around ASEAN would be successful. The East Asia Summit is a forum to discuss strategic and issues of common concern among countries in the East Asia region.

The first EAS was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2005. The meeting then was attended by rhe leaders of ASEAN’s 10 member countries, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

At 6th EAS in Bali to be held next November 19 in conjunction with the 19th ASEAN Summit, two new members will join the organization, namely the United States and Russia. US President Barrack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are expected attend.

Noting that many world leaders would come to Bali to attend the 19th ASEAN Summit and the 6th East Asia Summit, Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika gave the assurance that the province was secure and ready to welcome the summits’ participants.

"Nothing will happen that could hinder the summits, Bali’s stability and its people’s readiness," the governor said in Denpasar, recently.

Four F16 jet fighters will escort planes carrying the heads of state/government to attend the Bali summits while three warships will be on standby in Bali Waters during the event. Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai airport meanwhile will also provide extra parking space for six wide-bodied planes that would carry the leaders of foreign nations to Bali for the summits.

Besides the parking lot for six wide-bodied planes the airport would also provide space for the parking of Air Force aircraft that would be assigned to safeguard the air territory in Bali during the event.

Medium-sized planes belonging to heads of states/government would be parked in Surabaya. This had to be put in order to ensure that commercial flights at Ngurah Rai would not be disturbed.

Sumber : kompas.com