Promotion of political dialogue to enhance mutual understanding and trust
The Working Dinner Session of the ninth Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM9) opened in Hanoi on May 25 with a focus on “Regional and International Developments”.
ASEM Foreign Ministers agreed that political dialogue is an important cooperation pillar in ASEM which needs to be continuously enhanced to promote mutual understanding and trust, in order to actively support the other cooperation pillars in ASEM.
They shared the view that peace, cooperation and development remain the major trend, however, risks towards regional tension and conflict still exist. In this context, the Session had an open and strait forward dialogue in the respect for independence, sovereignty and non-interference, and for peace and negotiated settlement of conflicts.
The participants in the session also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern such as Afghanistan, the Balkan peninsular, the Korean peninsular, integration of East European countries into the EU, Myanmar and the Middle East.
They welcomed the first dialogue at the ministerial level between EU Troika and Myanmar in Hanoi, describing it as a positive step towards strengthening the mutual understanding between the two parties.