JAKARTA — Diplomatic talks on Myanmar’s civil war will be held in Jakarta ahead of a regional summit convening next week, a senior diplomat in Indonesia told AFP on Thursday.
The talks on Friday and Saturday will involve representatives from Indonesia, ASEAN, the European Union, United Nations and members of anti-junta groups, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Myanmar’s junta was not expected to take part, the diplomat said.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathers in Laos for an October 6-11 summit with the conflict in Myanmar set to feature prominently on the 10-member bloc’s agenda.
ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, has led several diplomatic pushes to resolve the crisis but has made little progress.
Myanmar’s military leaders have been barred from high-level ASEAN meetings with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines calling for tougher action against the junta.
Thailand has held bilateral talks with the generals as well as with detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The latest diplomatic push comes as Myanmar’s military reels from battlefield defeats and more than 3 million people have been displaced after more than three years of war, according to the United Nations.
