Foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN will issue a statement on the Middle East crisis after expressing grave concern about the evolving situation, the Philippines‘ top diplomat said on Tuesday.
Maria Theresa Lazaro was speaking to reporters after chairing a closed-door meeting in Manila with her counterparts from the Association of South East Asian Nations.
The meeting comes as tensions between the US and Iran threaten to cast a shadow over a diplomatic gathering in Southeast Asia this week, injecting additional uncertainty into a region grappling with maritime tensions with China and a faltering regional effort to end Myanmar’s civil war.
Meeting to raise economic concerns
Foreign ministers from the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and major partners will gather in Manila against the backdrop of instability beyond the region since the US and Iran resumed open conflict, raising concerns about energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, inflation, and global growth.
“We’re looking at several occasions where they can raise this very, very critical topic,” said Dominic Xavier Imperial, a spokesperson for the Philippines, the meeting host.
But Southeast Asia’s top diplomats meeting on Tuesday face no shortage of challenges closer to home.
They will have an informal consultation on Myanmar’s conflict, as ASEAN’s peace initiative struggles to gain traction, five years after it was launched following a military coup that plunged the country into a civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people.
