US takes cue from Asean, to invite ‘non-political’ Myanmar representative to Biden summit

The United States said on Wednesday it would follow the lead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) by inviting a non-political representative from military-ruled Myanmar to a summit with the 10-country bloc in Washington this month.

President Joe Biden plans to host a special summit of the United States and Asean leaders on March 28 and 29.

“The United States supports Asean’s decision to invite non-political representatives from Burma to high-level Asean events,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said, using the former name for Myanmar.

“We similarly have decided to invite a non-political representative from Burma to the summit. The regime has failed to make meaningful progress on Asean’s five-point consensus and should be held accountable,” the official said.

Late last year, Asean barred Myanmar’s ruling junta from key meetings over its failure to honour the plan agreed with the bloc to end a conflict in the country since the generals seized power that has killed hundreds of civilians, displaced more than 300,000 people, and triggered an exodus of foreign firms.