20th East Asia Summit adopted Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Peace and Stability
- The declaration aims to implement joint projects and activities under the EAS Plan of Action (2024–2028) aligned with ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future vision.
About East Asia Summit
- Overview: A leaders-led forum for dialogue and cooperation on strategic, political, and economic issues to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in East Asia.
- Genesis: Established in 2005, with the first Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Nature: An annual meeting of Heads of State or Government of participating countries.
- Members: ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, The Republic of Korea, United States and Russia.
Article Sources
1 source2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was recently held in the South Korean city of Gyeongju.
About APEC (Secretariat: Singapore)
- Founded: In1989
- Members: 21 economies (Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the United States etc.)
- India: Not a member (observer status).
- Objective: To build a dynamic and harmonious Asia-Pacific community by championing free and open trade and investment, promoting economic integration, cooperation, etc.
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1 sourceIndia, Australia, and Canada announced a new trilateral framework ACITI, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg.
About Australia Canada India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership
- Purpose: Enhance cooperation in critical and emerging technologies and innovation domains.
- Key Focus Areas: Including clean energy, diversified and resilient supply chains, particularly in critical minerals.
- Explore ways to accelerate AI development and mass adoption to improve the lives of their citizens.
Recently at APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) meet in South Korea, China pushed for a global body, WAICO, to govern Artificial Intelligence (AI) norms.
About WAICO
- Aim: Shaping global standards for world cooperation.
- It incorporates principles from China's 2023 Global AI Governance Initiative, emphasizing human-centric design, data sovereignty and algorithmic transparency.
- Announced during 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.
- Key Purpose: Reimagining the international architecture of AI governance, position China as an alternative to USA, exert China’s soft Power, etc.
Recently USA President confirmed that Kazakhstan would be a part of Abraham Accords.
About Abraham Accords
- Purpose: Defuse tensions in the Middle East by normalizing relations between Israel and several so-called moderate Arab states, to ensure formal diplomatic, trade and security ties between these states with Israel.
- Named after the biblical Abraham, considered by both Jews and Arabs as their common ancestor and a symbol of brotherhood.
- Genesis: Initially signed in 2020, between Israel with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.
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1 sourceBangladesh became the first country in South Asia to join the U.N.’s Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention).
About Water Convention
- Adopted in Helsinki in 1992 and entered into force in 1996.
- Legally binding convention for sustainable management of shared water resources.
- Requires parties to prevent, control, and reduce transboundary impacts.
- Ensures reasonable, equitable, and sustainable use of shared waters.
- Mandates cooperation through agreements and joint bodies among riparian states.
Fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers transited the Anegada Passage as a part of USA’s Operation Southern Spear against Narco Terrorism in the Caribbean.
About Anegada Passage
- Location: Channel in the West Indies, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea.
- It separates the British Virgin Islands (west) from the Leeward Islands (southeast).
- It is one of the two passages through which subsurface water enters the Caribbean (other being the Windward Passage).
