FOREIGN ministers and top diplomats from south Asian nations gathered in the Laotian capital today to begin three days of strategic talks.

The summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) in Vientiane is expected to focus on the increasingly violent civil war in Myanmar, tensions in the South China Sea and other regional issues.

The strategic importance of the summit will be underlined by the attendance of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.