Bala Kumar Palaniappan is the head of external relations at the Division 2 of the ASEAN Secretariat. He is coordinating ASEAN’s relations with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and ASEAN Plus Three and East Asia Summit. In his previous position, he handled ASEAN’s relations with the United States, Russia, the European Union and India. He also coordinated ASEAN’s relations with the United Nations and other regional organizations. Prior to joining the Secretariat, Mr. Palaniappan was a journalist with two of the country’s leading dailies – Utusan Malaysia and The Star. He holds a B.A. from the National University of Malaysia and an M.Sc. in international politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.