KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian Prime Minister and ASEAN chair Anwar Ibrahim said Monday he will meet Myanmar’s isolated junta chief in Bangkok this week as the strongman makes a rare trip abroad to discuss earthquake relief.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has barred junta officials from summits after their 2021 coup deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and plunged Myanmar into a fractious civil war.
But Anwar—who holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN—said he would meet Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday to discuss the safety of Malaysian aid workers dispatched to help after last month’s earthquake.
More than 3,600 people were killed in the March 28 disaster which destroyed more than 5,000 buildings, according to official figures, and left more than two million in need, said the UN.
Myanmar’s junta announced a ceasefire following the magnitude-7.7 quake. While monitors say fighting has continued, Anwar said he would appeal for the truce to continue beyond its April 22 expiry date.
“Hopefully from my discussion on April 17, I will ask for it to be extended,” Anwar said at an assembly of the finance ministry which he also leads.
“We are sending our rescue team there, so we want to ensure safety,” he said, adding the purpose of the meeting was to “facilitate humanitarian aid in light of the severe earthquake disaster”.
Anwar said his talks with Min Aung Hlaing would take place on the sidelines of meetings with Thai leaders to discuss the flooding situation in southern Thailand bordering Malaysia.
Since seizing power by force, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has mostly only travelled to his government’s main arms supplier Russia and its key economic partner and political backer China.
But earlier this month he ventured to Bangkok in the aftermath of the quake to attend a BIMSTEC economic summit of seven nations around the Bay of Bengal. Critics said the meeting legitimised his military rule.
The 10-country ASEAN bloc has led so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar’s civil war and has shunned Min Aung Hlaing from its summits over a lack of progress on their peace plan.
But Anwar said it took only one call for the junta chief to agree to meet.
“He recognises our friendship and he is ready to talk,” he said.
