The second special ASEAN-US summit, which was scheduled to take place on March 28th and 29th, has been postponed until new dates can be arranged in May, according to Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.
Last month, the White House issued a statement saying that the special summit will take place in Washington DC at the end of March. ASEAN members, however, could not attend due to scheduling conflicts.
“It is a normal occurrence. In the past, we have faced the same problem and we have to find a new common timeframe,” Don told the Thai News Agency on Tuesday, after the cabinet meeting.
The dates of March 26th and 27th were proposed last week but, after a few exchanges, both sides realised that their leaders’ timetables did not match.
ASEAN and the US are currently preparing the joint vision statement for the summit. The statement outlines their action plans, covering security, economic and cultural cooperation. ASEAN is planning to accord the status of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) to the US at the summit. Last year, China and Australia were granted CSPs.
