KUALA LUMPUR: The 10 leaders of Asean have been invited to the United States next year, US president Barack Obama announced today, rejecting accusations that his recent working trip to Asia was distracting him from turmoil in the Middle East.
Speaking at the end of his three-day visit here to attend the 27th Asean Summit, Obama said good ties with Asian nations were "absolutely critical" to US security.
“That’s why i devoted so much of my foreign policy into deepening America’s engagement with this region, and I’m pleased that on this trip we made progress across the board,” he told reporters here.
Obama was speaking in response to an article published on Nov 16 by the American political news outlet Politico, headlined “Obama’s Asian Distraction?".
The article criticised his attendance at four different summits in Turkey, Philippines and Malaysia this week as a distraction from dealing with more pressing issues around the world.
Wrapping up the trip, Obama said leaders at the East-Asia Summit today spoke on tensions in the South China Sea and the need to uphold international principles of freedom of navigation and the peaceful resolution of disputes.
The US has also agreed to boost the Philippines’ maritime capabilities, he said.
On the economic front, Obama said he was “optimistic” the 12 nations involved in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will approve the pact.
He also reiterated his call earlier this week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Manila, on the need to reach an ambitious climate change agreement when world leaders meet at the COP21 climate talks in Paris, France later this month.
He highlighted the recent move taken by the US and more than 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to dramatically reduce subsidies for coal power plants, which he described as "an important step to advance the fight against climate change”.