India will be invited to attend the inaugural East Asian summit in Malaysia in December, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today.

"India will definitely be invited. India has satisfied the criteria," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) here.

Syed Hamid said if Australia and New Zealand signed a non-aggression pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) they would also be invited to the summit.

"Australia and New Zealand - if they sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), they can come. We have no problem," he said.

New Zealand has indicated that it is willing to sign the treaty, but Australia has said it wants more talks with its Asian neighbors on how to overcome its concerns about signing the TAC, which prevents signatories from using force against one another.

Prime Minister John Howard, who has angered regional leaders by saying Australia reserves the right to launch preemptive strikes against suspected terrorist bases in neighboring countries, says the treaty could clash with Australian-US security agreements.

Australia is keen to attend the summit, however, as it will bring together Asean and its "Plus 3" partners China, Japan and South Korea in a grouping that is seen as a potential precursor to a European Union-style East Asian Community.

Syed Hamid said any country attending the summit must share the values of trust and sincerity to ensure peace and security in the region.