Mohammed bin Salman’s Historic Summit Brings Asia’s East and West Islamic Nations Together. “Reenergizing integration and connectivity between Asia’s west and east, whose ties are steeped in history and common culture but have frayed over past decades because of global polarization and conflict. Now, the path toward their integration is clear.” ‘And the Mahdi Shall Unite the Islamic Ummah.’

DR. ABDEL AZIZ ALUWAISHEG October 26, 202318:10 Arab News

Riyadh hosted a historic summit last Friday between the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — the first ever — to chart a new strategic path toward greater integration between the two blocs. It was co-chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. While the main focus was economic cooperation, the Riyadh convocation established mechanisms for political dialogue, security cooperation, climate change mitigation and people-to-people exchanges. The two organizations started their institutional dialogue in 2009 in Bahrain, they agreed on a joint action plan a year later in Singapore and went on to convene numerous meetings in both regions and elsewhere to advance integration along the main themes of that action plan, including trade and investment, tourism, education, agriculture and food security.

At Saudi Arabia’s initiative, last week’s summit was convened to upgrade the two blocs’ engagement to a strategic level by engaging heads of state and government. At the end of the summit, they agreed to meet every two years; the next meeting at this level will be held in Malaysia in 2025.

Much as the GCC’s founding in 1981 was in response to major security upheavals in the Gulf region at the time, ASEAN’s establishment was also rooted in the search for regional security. In 1967, five Southeast Asian nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — set up ASEAN to create a common front against the spread of communism. Its membership has doubled since then with the addition of Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997) and Cambodia (1999). Timor-Leste will be the next country to join ASEAN; after it applied for membership in 2011, the group granted it observer status in 2022 and it is on track for full membership by 2025.

Top leaders from both blocs attended the Riyadh gathering, with the exception of Myanmar, whose participation in such events has been frozen by ASEAN after it rejected the organization’s peace plan for the civil war in that troubled land. However, East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta was there, even though his country is still an observer. With the growth in membership, the Southeast Asian organization’s focus has also shifted. It is no longer concerned with the spread of communism, as some of its new members are run by local communist parties, but is instead focused on economic integration. However, much like the GCC, ASEAN states jealously guard their political independence.

In 1976, the members signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which emphasizes mutual respect and noninterference in other countries’ affairs. All ASEAN members have acceded to the treaty, known as TAC. At the Riyadh summit, ASEAN participants welcomed the fact that GCC states have also acceded to TAC. ASEAN’s shift in focus to economic matters made even more sense after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which started in Thailand, the birthplace of ASEAN. The bloc’s members pushed to further integrate their economies to deal with the crisis. Since then, ASEAN has become more integrated and connected, but it has yet to adopt a customs union or a monetary union. The two blocs are among the largest economic entities in the world. GCC gross domestic product stands at $2.2 trillion and ASEAN’s at $3.4 trillion. Their combined markets of about $6 trillion, when fully integrated, would make them the fourth-largest in the world after the US, China and the EU. ASEAN and the GCC are among the fastest-growing regions in the world.

These two regions have extensive trade and investment ties. The crown prince pointed to the significant and fast-growing volume of trade exchange. Two-way trade stood at $137 billion in 2022, which represents about 8 percent of total GCC external trade. Trade with Indonesia and Vietnam, in particular, has witnessed brisk growth in recent years. GCC exports to ASEAN account for about 9 percent of all exports and its imports from ASEAN are about 6 percent of all imports. GCC investment in ASEAN countries has reached $75 billion during the past two decades, or about 4 percent of all GCC investments abroad. ASEAN’s investment in GCC countries has reached $25 billion, or about 3.4 percent of all incoming investment.

ASEAN economies, fueled by fast growth and more than 650 million people, provide an attractive market for GCC exporters and investors. ASEAN and GCC leaders, speaking at the Riyadh summit, invited Gulf investors to take advantage of the great opportunities their economies provide for each other. The detailed seven-page joint statement issued at the conclusion of the summit included new ideas, many of which were amplified by the leaders addressing the Riyadh summit. They welcomed Saudi Arabia’s bid to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh and its candidacy to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, stressing the importance of organizing such regional and international events to reenergize economic and cultural exchanges between the Gulf and Southeast Asia.Initiating a change in the course of their cooperation, the two groups have agreed to undertake regular political and security dialogues and explore cooperation in preventing and combating transnational crime, cybercrime, terrorism and extremism.

The summit acknowledged the “positive contributions” of Southeast Asian workers in the GCC region and encouraged collaboration to promote “orderly, safe, regular and responsible labor mobility,” while strengthening cooperation to combat people trafficking in relation to recruitment practices, referring to an issue of growing concern regarding the conduct of employment agencies in the workers’ parent countries. The leaders supported intercultural dialogue to “enhance trust and advance mutual understanding and greater respect for diversity, thus contributing to a culture of peace.” The GCC-ASEAN Framework of Cooperation, endorsed at the summit, includes extensive mechanisms to push forward integration, connectivity and dialogue between the two groups over the next four years (2024-2028) in the areas identified in the joint statement.

A real test for the new relationship came when the two sides started discussing Israel’s war against Gaza and the need to take a principled stand befitting such an important high-level gathering. In the past, meetings between the two organizations avoided commenting publicly on such difficult issues. In this case, some ASEAN members maintain close ties to Israel and some have workers there, including among the casualties and hostages taken in the conflict. Despite these challenges, they were able to put out a strong separate statement on Gaza, after hours of debate. It condemned all attacks against civilians and called for a durable ceasefire and access to humanitarian aid and other basic necessities. It also called for the protection of civilians and urged progress toward the two-state solution, supporting the Saudi initiative to revive the peace process.

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The summit surpassed expectations, even those of the organizers, in reenergizing integration and connectivity between Asia’s west and east, whose ties are steeped in history and common culture but have frayed over past decades because of global polarization and conflict. Now, the path toward their integration is clear.

Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation.

But how can (7) they call on him (Jesus Christ) to save (7) them unless they believe in Him (Jesus Christ)? (7) And how can they believe in Him (7) (Jesus Christ) if they have never heard about (7) Him (Jesus Christ)? And how can they hear (7) about Him (Jesus Christ) unless someone tells them?” Romans 10:14 (777777)

In His Service,

Night Watchman

Paul Rolland

Night Watchman Ministries

Make Your (7) Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:

The ABCs (7) of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)

A. (7) Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask (7) God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.

. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that (7) Jesus Christ is who He claimed to (7) be; that He was both fully God (7) and fully man and that we are (7) saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. (7) Put your trust in Him as your (7) only hope of salvation. Become a son (7) or daughter of God by receiving Christ. (7777777) 7×7

. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

C. Call upon His name, Confess (7) with your heart and with your lips (7) that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).

. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).

. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).

. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).

. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).

. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).

. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).

. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).

True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:

 Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.