ASEAN Leaders Were ‘Very Close and Sincere Toward One Another’ in 2016, Hun Sen Says

ASEAN Leaders Were ‘Very Close and Sincere Toward One Another’ in 2016, Hun Sen Says

PHNOM PENH, Feb 17, 2026 — Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen on Wednesday reflected on what he described as a period of close and sincere relations among Southeast Asian leaders, marking the 10th anniversary of the 2016 ASEAN–U.S. summit hosted by former U.S. President Barack Obama.

In a message posted on his official social media page, Hun Sen referred to a commemorative photograph shared by Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong to mark a decade since the Feb. 17, 2016 summit between ASEAN leaders and the United States.

The meeting, hosted by Obama at the Sunnylands estate in California, was the first standalone ASEAN–U.S. summit held on American soil and was seen at the time as a milestone in ties between Washington and Southeast Asia.

Hun Sen said Lee had personally taken and posted the photograph in 2016, recalling that ASEAN leaders were “very close and sincere toward one another” during that period.

He noted that among four prime ministers in the image, he was the youngest, while Laos’ then-prime minister Thongloun Sisoulith was the oldest. He also conveyed greetings to the other leaders and thanked Lee for sharing the photograph.