Clinton bound to raise NZ's role in Afghanistan: PM

New Zealand forces patrol in Afghanistan. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand's involvement in Afghanistan is a likely talking point when Prime Minister John Key meets US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the East Asia Summit in Hanoi late tonight.

The presence of Mrs Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the East Asia Summit this year comes as the two powerful nations have been formally invited to join the forum, which already includes China and India.

United States President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dimitry Medvedev will attend next year, cementing the importance of the summit.

After formal discussions with his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard and Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon this afternoon, Mr Key is expected to have at least one informal discussion with Mrs Clinton at the fringes of the the summit, probably at a gala dinner hosted by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung tonight.

Mrs Clinton will be in New Zealand next week, "so probably the very formalised agenda we'll cover off when we have our bilateral then", Mr Key said.

The presence of the US and Russia adds further layers of complexity to discussions around security in the East Asia region and Mr Key said his discussion with Mrs Clinton this weekend was likely to be wide-ranging.

"The United States is clearly the lead player in many of these issues globally ... and we'd be interested in talking to her about global foreign issues, not least of them being what's happening in the Middle East and her take on Afghanistan."

Mr Key said last month that New Zealand's contribution to the international alliance in Afghanistan was already significant and he was not intending to increase it.

However, in terms of security, the overriding issues at this weekend's summit will be related to China's ongoing ascent as the region's pre-eminent power.

How China's Premier Wen Jiabao and Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, a key US ally, interact at the summit will be watched closely, given the backdrop of their tensions in the South China Sea.

Mr Key said he wasn't sure those tensions would be a direct topic of his conversation with Mrs Clinton but they were clearly contributing to the Obama Administration's interest in the summit.

Meanwhile, in his first face-to-face talks with Ms Gillard since she won the general election this year, Mr Key was expecting an update on Australia's proposal for a regional processing centre for asylum seekers for which Ms Gillard has sought New Zealand's support.

The issue had not been discussed at the top level since Australia's election but Mr Key said his thinking had not changed.

"We certainly don't want to host that regional processing centre, neither do we really want to pay for it, but there is a recognition on our part that there is a potentially a regional problem and that New Zealand can't rule out that it's a destination that one day could be attractive to people smugglers."

At his meeting with Mr Ban, Mr Key will raise New Zealand's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2015.