Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said his country was looking to join the East Asia Summit in order to "grow our engagement with Asean and expand access to markets of member states".

The East Asia Summit is a forum that meets annually within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, reports Efe news.

Trudeau expressed "Canada's desire to join the East Asia Summit and the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting Plus", and said his country's accession to the group would be a natural progression towards Canada's participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

He added that the East Asia Summit was the principal platform to discuss issues related to the Pacific.

The East Asia Summit is made up of the US, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN members.