12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit

•  The 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium.
• The theme of summit was ‘Global Partners for Global Challenges’. It was chaired by European Council President Donald Tusk.
• The summit was attended by heads of state of 51 European and Asian countries, representatives of European Union and Secretary General of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). India was represented by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu.
• This edition of summit has prioritised issues related to trade and investment, connectivity, sustainable development, climate change, terrorism, migration, maritime security and cyberspace.

About ASEM:

• ASEM was officially established in March 1996 at the first summit in Bangkok, Thailand.
• Currently ASEM comprises 53 members, including 31 European representatives (28 EU members, Norway, Switzerland and the European Commission) and 22 Asian representatives (10 ASEAN members, Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea and the ASEAN Secretariat).
• Russia joined ASEM at the 8th summit in October 2010 in Brussels.
• ASEM is an open and informal interregional dialogue for countries to cooperate in politics and security, financial, economic, social and cultural affairs.
• The biennial meetings of the heads of state and government are held alternately in Asian and European countries.
• ASEM represents around 62.3% of the world's population, 57.2% of the global GDP and almost 60% of the world's trade. Throughout its evolution, ASEM has maintained a consistent edge as a forum for political dialogue between member countries with diverse and complementing capacities. The 2nd ASEM expansion in 2006 saw India join the Forum w.e.f. 1 January 2007.
• ASEM Summit Level meetings are held biennially. 11 ASEM Summits have been held so far. India’s first Summit level participation was at the 7th Summit held in Beijing in 2008.
• The 8th ASEM Summit was held in Brussels on 4-5 October 2010 where Vice President, Shri Hamid Ansari led the Indian delegation.

By: Vishal