Context: Recently, the 36th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit was held via video conference to focus on the Covid-19 pandemic response, post-pandemic recovery and further cooperation with partner countries.

• The theme for the Summit was "Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN".
• The Summit was chaired by Vietnam which is also holding the chairmanship of ASEAN currently.

Background

• China has been pushing its presence in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries while claimant countries have been preoccupied in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
• China has been stepping up its activity in the disputed South China Sea during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Vietnam and the Philippines had raised protests with China in April 2020 after China unilaterally declared the creation of new administrative districts on islands in the South China Sea to which Vietnam and the Philippines also have competing claims.
• In early April 2020, Vietnam claimed that one of its fishing boats was sunk by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel.

Key Points

• Leaders of Vietnam and the Philippines argued that international institutions and international law had been seriously challenged during the global crisis.
• Vietnam and the Philippines have warned of growing insecurity and instability in Southeast Asia and have called upon countries to refrain from escalating tensions and abide by responsibilities under international law.

About ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund

• The summit has decided to establish the ASEAN Covid-19 response fund with a reserve for medical supplies to meet urgent needs during epidemics.
• A special ASEAN meeting convened in April to tackle the pandemic had failed to agree on an emergency fund.
• It has also decided to build the ASEAN standard procedures of epidemic response in case of health emergencies.

About ASEAN

• It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation. It was established in 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Currently, it consists of ten members namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Chairmanship of the group rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.

Its objectives are

• to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development,
• to promote regional peace and stability,
• to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields.