Southeast Asian defence ministers gathered in Indonesia for two days of talks that will include meetings with regional counterparts and the Pentagon chief, as tensions mount in the Asia-Pacific and conflicts rage in the Middle East and Ukraine, AFP reports.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with defence chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) before wider talks a day later over a region where Washington and Beijing are battling for influence.

The expanded talks will include representatives from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and Russia.

The meetings in Jakarta are expected to be dominated by issues ranging from the Myanmar crisis to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Muslim-majority Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo this week called on US President Joe Biden to do more to end “atrocities” in Gaza and help bring about a ceasefire.