Obama Attends the East Asia Summit in Bali khir Year

United States President Barack Obama will participate in the talks on the East Asia Summit of 18 countries in Bali later this year, the U.S. State Department confirmed Tuesday. Hillary Clinton will also travel to Indonesia later this month in part to prepare for "the participation of President Obama for the first time in the EAS in November," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

A local official in Bali said in May that Indonesia's tourist island is ready to welcome Obama on November 19. Bali provincial government spokesman Ketut Teneng Scot Marciel said the U.S. ambassador has told local governments about the desirability of Obama was to attend a regional strategic dialogue, which also includes China and Russia.

That would be Obama's second official visit to Indonesia, the islands are predominantly Muslims in Southeast Asia, where he has spent most of his childhood in the late 1960s. He makes his first visit as U.S. president last November.

Indonesia will host the meeting in his capacity as regional leaders of ASEAN, a group of 10 countries that form the broader EAS. The U.S. and Russia recognized the EAS is composed of 18 countries last year, but Obama did not attend the meeting of the leaders in Hanoi in October, just send Hillary Clinton to replace him.