The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) invited both U.S. and Russia to attend the East Asia summit, where leaders from 18 nations discussed territorial claims in the South China Sea, democratic reforms in Myanmar, natural disasters, currency, trade and other issues.

“The fact that they invited the US itself was recognition that if you are in a cage with an 800-pound gorilla, you should at least invite another one into it to provide a balance,” said Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh.

Heads of state and representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea and — for the first time — Russia and the United States attended.

Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao held an unscheduled one-on-one Saturday. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was unable to attend because of domestic issues.

Obama, the first U.S. president to attend, landed in Indonesia to join the East Asian Summit on Friday following an announcement that the U.S. would open a new military base in Australia and the forceful claim that America is “here to stay” as a “Pacific power,”

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu on Nov. 12, Obama announced the U.S. and eight other countries – - not including China — agreed to complete a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord within a year. Two-way trade between the U.S. and those nations totaled $171 billion last year, compared with $457 billion with China and $181 billion with Japan.

Obama has said that Asia is the key to meeting his goal of doubling U.S. exports to $3.14 trillion a year by the end of 2014. Commerce Department figures already show that the U.S. has exported more to the Pacific Rim this year than to Europe.

Obama took part in an event celebrating Chicago-based plane maker Boeing’s record $21.7 billion order of 230 Boeing aircraft from Indonesian carrier Lion Air, while on the Indonesian Island of Bali.

Obama’s move to increase its military footprint in the region with as many as 2,500 Marines stationed in northern Australia and a promise to strengthen Philippines naval defenses serves as a “stabilizing force” according to Ricky Carandang, a spokesperson for Philippine President Benigno Aquino. The U.S. presence “bolsters our ability to assert our sovereignty over certain areas.”

The enhanced U.S. presence may serve as a counterweight to China as it asserts territorial rights to the oil-rich South China Sea that are disputed by other Asian nations including the Philippines and Vietnam, which have awarded exploration contracts to Exxon Mobil Corp., Talisman Energy Inc. and Forum Energy Plc.

Throughout the trip, Obama has said repeatedly that his emphasis is on creating U.S. jobs and not a containment strategy of China.

Meanwhile, Washington along with Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam, is backing the alternative to the China’s ASEAN plus Three scheme for regional economic integration, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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