JAKARTA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2023) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, together with other participants of the East Asia Summit (EAS), are participating in the foreign ministers' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia's capital Jakarta, both wearing traditional Indonesian shirts, a Sputnik correspondent reported Friday.
The ministers traditionally arrived at the meeting wearing national shirts. With Indonesia chairing ASEAN and EAS this year, the organizers have chosen batik shirts made of hand-dyed fabric with intricate patterns.
Lavrov and Blinken are sitting almost next to each other in the meeting hall, to the right and left of the Philippine representative, the correspondent reported.
Blinken arrived in Jakarta on Thursday, having previously accompanied US President Joe Biden on his tour to Europe. Lavrov landed in Indonesia on Wednesday.
The annual ASEAN ministerial and post-ministerial meetings kicked off in Jakarta on Tuesday.
ASEAN is the association of 10 Southeast Asian states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, aimed at fostering both political and economic cooperation among its members.
EAS is a forum for dialogue among leaders of the Asia-Pacific region on a wide range of strategic, political and economic issues. The next East Asia Summit will take place in Jakarta in September. Meetings in this format are held annually in conjunction with high-level ASEAN events. Russian and US leaders have also been invited to the forum since 2011.
