Leaders and top diplomats from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations kicked off a summit meeting on Tuesday in Jakarta. At the top of the agenda is the situation in Myanmar where battles are intensifying between the military that seized power two years ago and pro-democracy groups.

Peace efforts in Myanmar have dominated the discussions at recent ASEAN meetings, but little progress has been made.

Indonesian president and chair of the summit Joko Widodo reiterated his call for unity.

"Don't make our ship, ASEAN, an arena for rivalry that destroys each other, but make this ASEAN ship a field for growing cooperation, for creating prosperity, creating stability, creating peace," he said.

The summit will also be focusing on the territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China and some ASEAN members have overlapping claims in the waters. That discussion comes days after Beijing released a new map touting its territorial claims.