Thailand will host two regional meetings on the Myanmar crisis this week, as Malaysia, which will assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year, calls for more efforts to bring Myanmar back into the fold of the regional bloc.
Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Maris Sangiampongsa will hold two separate consultations on Thursday and Friday, as a follow-up to the offer made by Bangkok back in October to host informal meetings to find a way to end the crisis, which started with the military coup in 2021.
Representatives from Myanmar’s government will take part in the session on Thursday, which ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said would be an informal consultation on border security and transnational crime.
The junta spokesman said on Monday that Myanmar’s junta-appointed Foreign Minister Than Swe will take part in the meeting.
The meeting would include “ministers, deputy ministers and officials” from neighboring China, Laos, Thailand, India and Bangladesh, he said.
“They will mainly discuss border issues, such as cross-border crimes… They will cooperate to combat cross-border crimes and ensure border stability,” the spokesperson added.
“This meeting reflects Thailand’s leading role in promoting frank and open discussion with relevant countries on how to closely work together on shared concerns to achieve mutual benefits,” Nikorndej said.
On Friday, Maris will host an extended informal consultation for foreign ministers and senior officials from the region.
The session will be open to all ASEAN members who are interested. The junta spokesman didn’t clearly mention if Than Swe would join the session.
This session will focus on ways to implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus on the Myanmar crisis and ways to move forward, said the spokesman.
“This consultation will be preceded by an informal meeting of the current, previous and incoming ASEAN chairs,” Mr Nikorndej said.
Laos holds the chairmanship of ASEAN this year, having taken over from Indonesia, which held the position last year. Malaysia is next year’s ASEAN chair.
Since the coup, ASEAN has snubbed Myanmar’s military leaders by only inviting non-political representatives from the country to regional meetings of leaders and foreign ministers.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that he was committed to implementing ASEAN’s peace plan, which has made scant progress since its unveiling in April 2021, soon after the coup.
“We are taking measures through dialogue informally at different levels to ensure Myanmar participates and to bring Myanmar back to the fore of ASEAN,” Anwar said at a joint press conference in Kuala Lumpur with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, without elaborating further.
Indonesia has said its foreign minister will attend the informal consultation planned for Friday.
