A Southeast Asian envoy has met Myanmar’s junta leader to discuss a peaceful resolution to its problems, a junta controlled newspaper reported on Thursday, but a shadow government opposed to military rule said there could be no solution without its involvement.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to help fellow member Myanmar end bloody turmoil sparked by a 2021 military coup but Myanmar’s junta has largely shunned its efforts..
ASEAN special envoy Alounkeo Kittikhoun met junta chief Min Aung Hliang for talks in the capital, Naypyidaw, on Wednesday. ASEAN Secretary General Dr. Kao Kim Hourn and ASEAN Humanitarian Aid Coordination Center Executive Director Lee Yam Ming took part in the meeting, the Myanma Alin newspaper reported.
The ASEAN envoy and Myanmar’s top general discussed which issues the bloc would assist in, finding a peaceful resolution to the current situation and the possibility of ASEAN-Myanmar cooperation, it said.
Myanmar’s crisis has raised questions about the effectiveness of the 10-member grouping in tackling problems in a region where both China and the United States compete for influence.
ASEAN has drawn up a five-point peace plan aimed at ending the violence and promoting dialogue. The plan includes talks with leaders of all sides, including the imprisoned democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. But she remains in jail while fighting between junta forces and insurgents opposed to military rule has intensified.
While ASEAN has excluded Myanmar’s leaders from most of its summits some members, including neighbors Thailand and current ASEAN chair Laos, have engaged with the junta. Others, however, have condemned the Myanmar military for the coup and subsequent crackdowns on dissent.
The ASEAN humanitarian center has overseen a Thai aid delivery to Myanmar, raising the possibility of an expanded cross-border humanitarian role for the grouping.
A spokesperson for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which claims the right to represent the country on an international level, dismissed the latest ASEAN effort as doomed, saying the military would not heed ASEAN’s peace plan.
“If they meet and hold a one-sided talk with the military council, nothing will happen,” said Nay Phone Latt, a representative of the organization’s prime minister’s office. “It is also necessary for ASEAN representatives to meet and discuss with ethnic armed groups, [and] the National Unity Government, which are the main players in Myanmar.”
Envoy Kittikhoun held talks with the NUG’s foreign minister, Zin Mar Aung, following his first visit to Myanmar in January.
Pro-democracy activists loyal to the NUG have formed militias in various parts of the country to fight the military in cooperation with ethnic minority insurgent groups that have been battling for self-determination for decades.
Junta forces have faced setbacks in several places since their opponents launched offensives late last year while the fighting has displaced about 3 million people.
The ASEAN envoy and the junta chief also discussed humanitarian assistance while the military explained its strategy to prepare for promised elections, the newspaper reported.
Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe told Radio Free Asia it was not clear how much talks brokered by international parties such as ASEAN could really help Myanmar.
“The international assumption is that issues in Myanmar could be resolved through dialogue,” he said. “That’s why it is urging the military council to meet and discuss. But we will have to wait and see how far that would help in practice.”
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.