President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) called the meeting with US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and US Ambassador Ken Salazar a “friendly, necessary and beneficial” meeting.

Thursday’s meetings will include separate summits with leaders from China, South Korea, and India. ASEAN leaders also had their first summit with new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

The two-day meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense ministers also drew representatives from the U.S., Japan, South Korea, India, and Australia, among others.