The summit takes place almost eight weeks after Burmese junta’s crackdown on the pro-democratic protests. While Myanmar’s fellow ASEAN member states have condemned the junta’s violence, they are still refusing to impose sanctions on Myanmar, or to suspend it from the organisation altogether.

As Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong explained, imposing sanctions on Myanmar would only harm “the helpless who are already suffering and miserable” but would “not succeed in causing pain to the leadership”. He also added that regime change was only good as “a slogan [but not] as a policy. It’s been tried in Iraq and nobody wants to have an Iraq in Southeast Asia. “

No interference

Myanmar’s Senior General Than Shwe and Prime Minister Thein Sein are attending the meeting. In the run-up to the summit, Defence Deputy Minister Brigadier General Aye Myint already made clear that the junta would not accept any policy allowing interference in the member states’ home affairs:

“We are also looking forward to the positive and constructive assistance and understanding from ASEAN countries and also the United Nations, but we will not accept interferences that will harm our sovereignty. “

The ten heads of state are to sign an economic plan which is a precondition for free trade relations among ASEAN member states. Duty-free trade among South East Asia is scheduled to begin in 2015. Climate change is another central theme on ASEAN’s agenda. ASEAN wants to agree on a common policy for reducing CO2 emissions, two weeks before the Bali Climate Change Conference.

Protests in Singapore

The Burmese leaders’ presence in Singapore sparked small anti-junta protests near the summit venue on Monday -- a rare sight in Singapore, which has reinforced its already tight laws on public demonstrations as part of a massive security operation.

ASEAN was originally formed in 1967 by Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines, to promote regional cooperation. It was later joined by Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Papua New Guinea and East Timor have been accorded the so-called “observer status”.