China has also irked ASEAN countries by creating artificial islands from reefs to bolster its claim.
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Another questioner challenged Obama to raise corruption and human rights with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and the president promised he would “definitely” do that.
Obama’s meeting last weekend at the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, also produced a few unscripted moments. They have faced government crackdowns for highlighting Najib’s role in a $700 million financial scandal involving a state investment fund.
Obama described them as outstanding and courageous people. “They won by transforming their foes into friends”, he said.
New common market: A woman shopping in Malaysia.
Summit host Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia hailed the ASEAN Community as a “landmark achievement”, and urged members to accelerate integration.
Third, Mr. Modi said, there was need for stronger commitment and closer cooperation on cyber security. He said the time has come for India to drive Asia’s insurgence. Now, it is India’s turn. We are at a take-off stage. I assure you of its early completion.
“We are all here in Kuala Lumpur at a historic moment for the 10-nation association”.
Obama chatted with elementary-school-age children, all sharply dressed in navy-and-white uniforms, at a humanitarian center that serves young people who have fled violence in Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, Iran and elsewhere.
Obama arrived Friday for a three-day visit of regional meetings, his second trip here since April a year ago.
On upcoming Paris climate talks, the Prime Minister said, “There, we must not only come together to craft a balanced and concrete outcome on climate change”. “Trans Pacific Partnership is also a major development”.
He was speaking at a business summit, held on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian countries.
Malaysia’s leader on Saturday denounced the Islamic State as an “evil” terrorist group, saying his Muslim-majority country is ready to join others to defeat it. But he cautioned that a military solution alone was not enough, and what needs to be vanquished is the ideology.
At least 20 were killed in Mali, including at least one American.
The president spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington.
Still on the scourge of terrorism, Najib said the perpetrators of cowardly and barbaric acts did not represent any race, religion and creed, nor should they be allowed to claim to do so.
ASEAN members also struggles to resolve diplomatic flare-ups among each other such as border disputes between Cambodia and Vietnam, or Indonesia’s inability to fight annual forest fires that spew noxious haze for months over Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
“We will continue to root out terrorist networks”, Obama told a meeting of business executives.
The YSEALI Summit brings together 500 young leaders from the 10 ASEAN countries who are YSEALI alumni, to sharpen their skills on developing effective online media campaigns. “Territorial disputes must be settled through peaceful means”, he said. “These improvements further complicate and increase the difficulty of coming to compromises that will be necessary to prevent further tension from rising”, Aquino said.
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US President Barack Obama (L) and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III (R)during the 3rd ASEAN – United States of America Summit at the Conference Hall 1 of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, November 21, 2015.
