LANGKAWI: Asean leaders have endorsed the Langkawi Declaration on the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) which outlines measures to help promote moderation and curb extremism throughout the region.
The Declaration was adopted by the 10-member grouping at the end of the two-day 26th Asean Summit held here on Monday.
“We recognise that moderation is a core value in the pursuit of long-lasting peace and a tool to diffuse tensions, negate radicalism and counter extremism in all its forms and manifestations,” read the Declaration.
In agreeing to promote moderation as an important Asean value, the document outlined several measures which Asean leaders agreed to undertake in their respective countries.
They also agreed on joint action that includes the promotion of the observance of a Year of Moderation at the United Nations to underscore the importance of moderation.
In the Declaration, the Asean leaders said they agreed to organise outreach programmes, interfaith and cross-cultural dialogues in various formats including the Second International Conference on GMM in Kuala Lumpur this year as well as the Bali Democracy Forum in Indonesia.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in delivering his closing remarks at the end of the Summit said that the Langkawi Declaration on GMM was one of three documents that Asean has adopted.
The other two are the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on a People-Oriented, People-Centred Asean; and the Declaration on Institutionalising the Resilience of Asean and its Communities and Peoples to Disasters and Climate Change.
