Jokowi: Don’t use Asean as ‘proxy’

Unity is key: The foreign ministers posing for group photos during the 32nd Asean Coordinating Council meeting in Jakarta. — Reuters

The country told major powers not to use South-East Asia as a “proxy” for their rivalries at the start of two-day talks between regional foreign ministers, while also calling for unity and progress on the Myanmar crisis.

South-East Asia’s biggest economy is the chair of Asean for 2023 and will later this year host the bloc’s annual leaders’ meetings, which are typically also joined by China and the United States.