KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — East Timor's prime minister pledged Sunday that his country would be a productive member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as it was formally admitted to the bloc in its first expansion since the 1990s.

After the flag of East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, was added to the other 10 on the stage at a formal ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao told the other leaders that “today, history is made.”

“For the people of Timor Leste this is not only a dream realized, but a powerful affirmation of our journey,” he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country holds the bloc's rotating chairmanship, said East Timor's accession “completes the ASEAN family, the affirming of our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship

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