As Southeast Asian leaders meet in Laos on Wednesday, the agenda of the Summit is clear in their minds. It’s resolution of the Myanmar Civil War in Thailand.
With more than three years of efforts to find a solution to the Myanmar crisis, the leaders come with a little hope this time. Myanmar, for the first time in three years, will send a representative to the summit in Laos.
Aung Kyaw Moe, permanent secretary at the Myanmar foreign ministry also attended a meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday. This was ahead of the main summit beginning on Wednesday.
Myanmar Military’s Invite
This development took place two weeks after the Myanmar military issued an unprecedented invitation to its enemies. The invite was to hold talks aimed at ending the conflict, which has killed thousands and forced millions to flee their homes.
The junta has been reeling from battlefield defeats to ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy “People’s Defence Forces” that rose up to oppose its coup.
Indonesia too, last week, held talks on the Myanmar conflict. It involved ASEAN, the EU, UN and several anti-junta groups.
Myanmar has been in chaos since a military coup in February 2021 spared a nationwide rebellion and civil war. ASEAN has then barred Myanmar junta leaders from its summits while generals have refused to send “non-political representatives” instead. The junta has called its opponents ‘terrorists’ and has refused to hold talks with them.
Thai Solution?
Thailand is expected to propose a new path for a political solution after a regional peace effort made scant progress.
This week, it offered to host an “informal consultation” of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in December in a bid to find a way out of the intractable conflict that has displaced millions of people.
“We want to see a political solution,” Nikorndej Balankura, a spokesperson of Thailand’s foreign ministry, told reporters.
“Thailand is ready to coordinate with all other member countries so there would be a concerted ASEAN effort that could lead to peace in Myanmar.”
Thailand’s initiative would complement existing ASEAN peace efforts, but may not immediately involve countries beyond the region, he added.
Only Talk, No Action
So far, there has been no progress on ASEAN’s “Five-Point Consensus” peace plan which was unveiled months after the coup. While the junta had agreed to it then, it ignored it and carried on a bloody crackdown on dissent eventually.
In April 2021, Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing had attended an emergency ASEAN summit on the crisis. Since then, the bloc has refused to invite him to regular gatherings.
Thailand has also previously suggested that China and India, Myanmar’s other neighbours ought to play a role in the peace effort. However, the latest plan is limited to the ASEAN bloc.
