U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that maritime issues will top the agenda of the East Asia summit slated for October in Brunei.

The president made the announcement after a White House meeting with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, whose country holds the chairmanship of the regional ASEAN bloc and will host the annual East Asia summit as well as the first U.S.-ASEAN summit.

"So at the ASEAN East Asia summit, we will be discussing a wide range of issues" ranging from energy, climate change and expanded commerce through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Obama told reporters.

"We'll be discussing maritime issues," he added. "Obviously there have been a lot of tensions in the region around maritime issues and his majesty has shown great leadership in trying to bring the countries together to make sure that everybody is abiding by the basic precepts of rule of law and international standards so that conflicts can be resolved peacefully and effectively, and that everybody is brought into that kind of structure."

The president also said that ASEAN, the United States and China will, for the first time, conduct joint exercises around disaster and humanitarian relief.

The sultan, for his part, expressed his happiness about Brunei- U.S. cooperation on energy, education and defense. He said he has invited Obama to attend the East Asia summit and the ASEAN-U.S. summit.

The East Asia summit was inaugurated in 2005, and Obama first joined the gathering in 2011 in Bali, Indonesia. Endit

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