MOSCOW, October 28. / TASS /. Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states are going to cooperate in line with the principles of respect for sovereignty, equality and non-interference in internal affairs.
According to the Joint statement of the 4th ASEAN-Russia summit adopted on Thursday, which was published on the Kremlin website, the parties will "promote cooperation between ASEAN Member States and Russia based on the principles of mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity; respect for international law; the right to lead national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion; non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; reliance on peaceful settlement of disputes; refrain from the threat or use of force; and effective cooperation."
The 4th ASEAN-Russia summit on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia relations took place on Thursday via video linkup. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the meeting.
The summit participants emphasized that "national security could not be ensured at the expense of others" and stressed "the need to fully respect and take into account the legitimate interests and concerns, and the domestic laws and regulations of all states." The sides also expressed their readiness to "promote our common interest in ensuring that the evolving regional architecture continues to bring about peace, security, stability and prosperity for the peoples in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions" as well as to "reaffirm unwavering support to ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture and commitment to strengthen and give new momentum to ASEAN-led mechanisms to better face challenges and seize opportunities arising from the current and future regional and global environments."
Furthermore, the statement indicated that "the evolving regional security architecture should be open, transparent, inclusive, and based on universally recognized rules and principles of international law, including the principle of equality, and encourage continued exchanges of views on regional security architecture within ASEAN-led mechanisms, including East Asia Summit and EAS Ambassadors’ Meeting in Jakarta."
No need for creating new mechanisms
The parties assured that they would "acknowledge the importance placed by ASEAN on the principles and objectives in the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, which were inclusive in nature and aimed to guide cooperation of ASEAN in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region, and to generate momentum for building strategic trust and win-win cooperation and to strengthen existing ASEAN-led mechanisms while not creating new mechanisms or replacing existing ones."
The document also refers to plans to "explore possible practical cooperation on the issues of mutual interest between ASEAN, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).".