Pakistan bid to turn into full dialogue partner of Asean may not succeed
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Indonesia, Singapore and other like-minded countries in Southeast Asia may not allow Pakistan's move through current Asean chair Malaysia to become a full-fledged dialogue partner of the bloc.Pakistan has been making efforts to join several plurilaterals over the past year to build an anti-India narrative and internationalise its differences with India. As part of this effort, it recently made a move to enrol itself as a full-fledged dialogue partner of Asean, taking advantage of Malaysia's chairmanship of the grouping in 2025.However, there is no consensus on the move and as Asean works by consensus. There are doubts about Pakistan's efforts to achieve success. ET has reliably learnt that Indonesia along with Singapore is not in favour of Pakistan's inclusion as a full-fledged Asean dialogue partner. A few other like-minded countries in Asean also have a similar opinion.Cambodia, an Asean member, may however push for Pakistan's inclusion as a dialogue partner at China's insistence. Cambodia is regarded as China's closest partner in SE Asia and Malaysia's ties with China are expanding fast. India has been a full-fledged dialogue partner of Asean since 1995.
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