Monday, May 9 2005 20:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Putrajaya (Malaysia): India will "definitely" be invited to attend the inaugural East Asia Summit to be held in Malaysia in December, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today (May 9, 2005).

"India will definitely be invited because they have satisfied the criteria," Syed told reporters on the sidelines of a Non-aligned Movement Ministerial conference in Putrajaya. "If they are interested, they will be in," he added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh had said in Jakarta last month (April, 2005) that New Delhi had received the support of countries including Indonesia to attend the East Asia Summit in December.

Singh visited Jakarta to attend the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Bandung Asian-African Conference.

The Malaysian Foreign Minister, speaking after attending the Ministerial Meeting on Advancement of Women, said that he and his Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts as well as Japan, South Korea and China had finalised India's participation last week.

Syed Hamid, however, put conditions on the participation of Australia and New Zealand, saying they would also be invited to the summit if they sign a non-aggression pact with the 10-member ASEAN.

If they signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), they could also attend the meet, aimed at creating an East Asian trading bloc, he said.

While New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark expressed her country's willingness to sign the Southeast Asian Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that it would clash with Australian-US security agreements.