ASEAN Continues Intensive Dialogue with Myanmar to Promote Peace

Jakarta (ANTARA) - ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn stated that ASEAN leaders have agreed to continue intensifying dialogue with Myanmar’s new government to work towards ending the conflict and realising national reconciliation in the country.

Secretary-General Kao said during a press conference on the outcomes of the 48th ASEAN Summit on Monday that ASEAN foreign ministers agreed that they need to keep communicating with their counterparts in Myanmar to seek peaceful solutions there.

“The ministers agreed on the need to hold online meetings to hear developments from the Myanmar side and, of course, for the Myanmar side to hear views and input from ASEAN partners,” Kao said at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

According to the ASEAN Secretary-General, Southeast Asian leaders fundamentally agree on striving to achieve consensus on the Myanmar issue. However, discussions remain open to determine the next steps that need to be taken for Myanmar.

ASEAN is committed to continuing to facilitate a peaceful solution to the conflict in Myanmar that aligns with the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), he said.

He also assured that the reconciliation process in Myanmar will be carried out in ways led and regulated by Myanmar itself.

“What needs to be emphasised is to ensure there is no more violence and that true national reconciliation can be realised,” Secretary-General Kao stated.

At the 48th ASEAN Summit, ASEAN leaders finally allowed Myanmar’s foreign minister and diplomats to participate virtually in side agendas of ASEAN foreign ministers’ meetings starting in July.

According to sources familiar with the matter, as quoted by Kyodo, this concession to Myanmar was made after ASEAN adjusted to the structure of Myanmar’s new government led by President Min Aung Hlaing, the former junta leader.

Since the Myanmar military coup in February 2021, ASEAN has banned Myanmar’s leaders from participating in the organisation’s agendas since October 2021.

Meanwhile, at the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Cebu on Thursday (7/5), Thailand proposed allowing Myanmar to participate in follow-up meetings in July.

However, according to the source, Singapore opposed Thailand’s proposal and rejected the presence of Myanmar’s foreign minister in the main meetings in person.