Myanmar's Chairman of the State Administration Council Min Aung Hlaing met with top officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the country’s state media reported.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing met a delegation led by Alounkeo Kittikhoun, special envoy of the alternate chairman of the ASEAN on Myanmar, and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, on May 15, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.
Min Aung Hlaing and visiting ASEAN officials discussed Myanmar-ASEAN cooperation, the conditions of Myanmar’s participation in ASEAN meetings, the provision of humanitarian aid by ASEAN to Myanmar, and the best collaborative approach to distribute the aid to people in need, according to the state-owned newspaper
ASEAN adopted a five-point consensus in April 2022 for a peaceful solution to the Myanmar crisis after the military took power in the nation on Feb 1, 2021.
The plan calls for cessation of violence, initiation of dialogue, appointment of ASEAN envoys, providing humanitarian assistance, and a visit by an ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar.
Min Aung Hlaing and visiting ASEAN officials discussed Myanmar-ASEAN cooperation, the conditions of Myanmar’s participation in ASEAN meetings, the provision of humanitarian aid by ASEAN to Myanmar, and the best collaborative approach to distribute the aid to people in need, according to the state-owned newspaper.
They also “frankly exchanged views” on the efforts of Myanmar to firmly implement the multiparty democratic system the people aspire to, preparations for holding a free and fair multiparty democratic general election, and requirements for all to know the actual conditions of Myanmar.
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While thousands more refugees have fled to neighboring countries as armed conflict spreads to many parts of the nation, more than 2.8 million people are internally displaced in Myanmar, according to the United Nations estimates.
The UN estimated that some 18.6 million people will need humanitarian assistance across Myanmar in 2024 — a 19-fold increase since February 2021.
Laos is the rotating chair of ASEAN this year. Alounkeo, a veteran Lao diplomat, was appointed as the bloc’s special envoy to Myanmar in January and went on his first mission to the country in the same month.
ASEAN members have divided views in regard to the Myanmar crisis. While countries like Malaysia have called on ASEAN partners to impose “strong” measures against Myanmar, Thailand has said that it wants to see Myanmar “back fully in the ASEAN family”.
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During a video telephone call with Min Aung Hlaing earlier in May, Hun Sen, former prime minister of Cambodia, asked the general to allow him to speak to Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The top general has been excluded from ASEAN’s annual leaders’ summit since 2021 as the bloc insisted that only a “non-political representative” from Myanmar can attend its high-level gatherings.
Last year, ASEAN also decided that the Philippines will replace Myanmar to take the bloc’s chairmanship in 2026.
Under ASEAN’s rules for rotating leadership — the leadership passes annually based on the alphabetical order of the English names of the member states — Myanmar was supposed to take the chairmanship in 2026.
