Myanmar says it won’t attend Asean foreign ministers meeting
- Cambodia, the current Asean chair, said earlier this month that member states had failed to reach a consensus on inviting Myanmar’s foreign minister
- The failure to reach an agreement is due to ‘little progress in carrying out the Asean’s 5-Point Consensus’, a Cambodian diplomat said
The decision to restrict Myanmar’s participation reflected a disagreement over Myanmar’s lack of cooperation in implementing measures agreed upon by the 10-member bloc last year to help ease that country’s violent political crisis following the army’s takeover.
The head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was not invited to last October’s virtual meeting of Asean leaders because of the disagreement. That rebuke was issued soon after Myanmar declined to let an Asean special envoy meet with Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the military took power.
“Despite the efforts made by the Asean chair and Myanmar to promote cooperation in Asean, it is regrettable to see the return of the decision made last year which Myanmar in principle is unable to accept,” Myanmar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement Monday night.
“In this regard, Myanmar’s inability to participate or even designate a non-political representative … is inevitable since it contradicts the principles and practice of equal representation in Asean.”
