Kuala Lumpur, Sep 10 : India on Wednesday expressed constructive support for preparations related to the forthcoming 20th East Asia Summit. Representing India at the East Asia Summit Preparatory Senior Officials' Meeting (EAS Prep-SOM) in Malaysia's Port Dickson on Wednesday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East), P Kumaran expressed India's "constructive support" for preparations related to the forthcoming summit.

Dato' Sri Amran Mohamed Zin, Secretary General of Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its capacity as the ASEAN Chair, chaired the meeting. Senior Officials of participating countries of EAS attended the meeting.

"Secretary (East), in his intervention at the EAS Prep-SOM, expressed constructive support for preparations related to the forthcoming 20th East Asia Summit. Secretary (East) also invited EAS Participating Countries for the EAS Knowledge Exchange Workshop on Energy Efficiency Policies and Programs - Mission LiFE and Conclave of EAS Heads of Higher Education Institutions being hosted in India at the Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

During his visit, Kumaran also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Australia, Cambodia and Malaysia.

Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened the East Asia Summit Preparatory Senior Officials' Meeting (EAS Prep-SOM) on Wednesday in Port Dickson. "The meeting reviewed preparations for the 20th East Asia Summit to be held in October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, including discussions on the Summit's outcome documents," Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X.

On Tuesday, Kumaran met Dato' Sri Amran Mohamed Zin and expressed commitment to further strengthen cooperation between both countries in various sectors.

"Secretary General, Dato' Sri Amran Mohamed Zin, met with Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India, H.E. Periasamy Kumaran on 9 September 2025. The meeting underscored both countries' commitment to further strengthening Malaysia'India cooperation across various sectors and work towards enhancing ASEAN-India collaboration within ASEAN-led frameworks," Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

The East Asia Summit refers to the Meeting of Heads of States/Governments of the EAS participating countries which is convened annually. The East Asia Summit (EAS) process was initiated in 2005 with the convening of the first East Asia Summit in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur. At its inception, the East Asia Summit comprised 16 participating countries, namely ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea. The United States and Russia joined at the 6th East Asia Summit in Indonesia's Bali on November 19, 2011.

/IANS