Southeast Asian leaders gathered Wednesday for an annual forum that will focus on the civil war in Myanmar and territorial tensions in the South China Sea, two key challenges that have tested the bloc's credibility.

Rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea will also be on the agenda at the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

VIENTIANE: Southeast Asian leaders pressed Myanmar's junta and its opponents on Wednesday (Oct 9) to take "concrete action" to stop the bloodshed in the country's civil war and sought to kickstart faltering diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis.