Philippines deploys 60,000 police officers, soldiers for Asean summit

The Philippines authorities on Sunday deployed close to 60,000 police officers and soldiers to coordinate the security at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, which will be held here from November 10 to 14.

In addition to the leaders of the 10 Asean member countries, the Presidents of the US and China, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping respectively, as well as leaders of the European Union, Russia, Japan and Australia, are also expected to attend the summit, reports Efe news.

The Philippine police force has also banned firearms in Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon on account of the summit.

The Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, North Korea's nuclear ambitions, terrorism and the territorial disputes in South China Sea will be some of the matters discussed during the summit.

The economy will also feature prominently in the meetings of the group, which is made up of 620 million inhabitants and a combined GDP of around $2.55 trillion.

Asean was founded in 1967 and is composed of Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

--IANS

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