Which of the following countries chaired the 43rd ASEAN SUMMIT?

Correct — C, Indonesia. Indonesia held the ASEAN chair for 2023 and hosted the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta from 5 to 7 September 2023, under the theme ASEAN Matters — Epicentrum of Growth. The chairmanship rotates annually in the alphabetical order of the members' English names, and the chair hosts the summits and sets the year's theme. India took part in the associated 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit held alongside it in Jakarta.

• (a)Thailand — Thailand chaired ASEAN in 2019 and hosted the 34th and 35th summits at Bangkok, where the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership talks reached the point at which India decided to stay out.
• (b)Philippines — The Philippines chaired in 2017, the association's fiftieth anniversary year, and hosted the 30th and 31st summits.
• (d)Cambodia — Cambodia chaired in 2022 and hosted the 40th and 41st summits at Phnom Penh, the year before Indonesia's turn.

ASEAN was founded at Bangkok in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and grew to ten with Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. It works by consensus and non-interference, holds two leaders' summits a year, and anchors a wider architecture of the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus. India became a sectoral dialogue partner in 1992 and a full dialogue partner in 1996, and the relationship was raised to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022.

The chair rotates alphabetically, so a candidate who can anchor one recent year can count forwards or backwards. Cambodia in 2022, Indonesia in 2023, Laos in 2024, Malaysia in 2025 — the sequence is easier to hold than four separate summit numbers. Indonesia's 2023 turn is also the one to remember for India, since both the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit met at Jakarta in the same week.

• The 43rd ASEAN Summit was held at Jakarta from 5 to 7 September 2023 under Indonesia's chairmanship.
• The theme for Indonesia's chairmanship was ASEAN Matters — Epicentrum of Growth.
• The chairmanship rotates annually in the alphabetical order of members' English names.
• Laos chaired in 2024 and Malaysia in 2025.
• ASEAN was founded at Bangkok in 1967 and has ten member states.

• Matching a summit number to the wrong year; two summits are held in most years.
• Assuming the chair is the largest or most active member rather than the next in alphabetical order.
• Confusing the ASEAN Summit with the ASEAN-India Summit held alongside it.

A one-line recall of a summit host, best solved through the alphabetical rotation rather than by memorising summit numbers.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The chairmanship of ASEAN rotates annually on the basis of

  • (a)Population size
  • (b)Alphabetical order of members' English names
  • (c)Date of accession
  • (d)Gross domestic product

  Answer(b) Alphabetical order of members' English names — which is why Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos followed one another.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  ASEAN was established in 1967 by a declaration signed at

  • (a)Jakarta
  • (b)Bangkok
  • (c)Manila
  • (d)Singapore

  Answer(b) Bangkok — by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.