asean

According to Dung, the Vietnam-France cultural exchange year will last through early 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and mark the development of their bilateral cooperation. It is also a significant event which will open up opportunities to expand relationships between the two nations to various fields.

FOR decades the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has led a largely blameless existence, untroubled by the glare of publicity as it gently sought to bring coherence to a region of enormous political and economic differences. Not for ASEAN the highs and calamitous lows of, for example, the European Union. All that has now suddenly changed.

A recent Yahoo! Japan search for “sofuto pawa,” the Japanese translation for soft power, yielded nearly two and a half million entries. While this number indicates the term’s popularity in Japan, it tells us little about how successful Tokyo has been in employing soft power throughout the Western Pacific.

Through Serenta (outreach and public diplomacy programme), we inform students on how Asean was conceived and its successes to date," he said, adding that more activities were being planned..."With the support of ambassadors, high commissioners and ministries, we are very confident that we will host Asean and (assume) the chairmanship with success.

...ICCR president Karan Singh said people have begun to think and talk about the day when India would emerge as a superpower, but its fundamental mantras are embedded in the simultaneous growth and expansion of the country... In all the countries of East Asia, South Asia and South East Asia, strong presence and influence of Hinduism, Buddhism and Indian culture had been found, he said.

After disagreement over how to deal with the issue at a summit in Phnom Penh on July 13, where ASEAN leaders failed to release a joint communique for the first time in the group's 45-year history, Indonesia’s foreign minister Marty Natalegawa has circulated a proposal for six principles on resolving disputes in the South China Sea. The principles emphasize implementation of a code of conduct, having self-restraint without the use of force, and the seeking of peaceful resolutions.

Will the weakening of ASEAN encourage some members to move closer to the U.S.? And will China and the U.S. intensify their "soft power" struggle for the hearts and minds of Southeast Asians?

...From the perspective of ASEAN, Korea has become a strategically important, economically crucial, and culturally rich partner. Korea’s soft power seems to make its impact felt everywhere in Southeast Asia. It fosters an atmosphere favorable for various exchanges between Korea and ASEAN....

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