ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

Myanmar Establishes New Committee to Advance Normalization With ASEAN

The creation of the body, which comes ahead of next month’s ASEAN Summit in Manila, is intended to “regain the country’s original role and rights” in the bloc.

Myanmar’s empty seat, as seen during the 40th ASEAN Summit (Plenary Session) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 11, 2022.

Myanmar’s military-backed government has formed a new ASEAN Affairs Committee in order to support its efforts to reintegrate itself into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The Southeast Asian bloc has excluded Myanmar from its summits and foreign ministers’ meetings since late 2021, due to its failure to implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus plan. Promulgated in April 2021, two months after a military coup, the Consensus calls for an immediate cessation of violence, dialogue among “all parties” to the country’s conflict, and access for humanitarian aid.

The Irrawaddy reported yesterday that the new body, which met for the first time on Tuesday, ahead of the 49th ASEAN Summit next month, is intended to “regain the country’s original role and rights” in the 11-nation organization. Tuesday’s meeting was chaired by Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe and attended by representatives from the President’s Office and ministries of Defense, Home Affairs, Information, and Social Welfare.

Tin Maung Swe told the meeting that Myanmar had suffered “discriminatory treatment” from ASEAN since 2021, The Irrawaddy reported. The meeting also discussed “Myanmar‑led approaches” for restoring the country’s position in the bloc.

Since taking office in April, Min Aung Hlaing’s quasi-civilian government has launched a diplomatic charm offensive, involving visits to India, China, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, aimed at consolidating key partnerships and seeking injections of much-needed foreign investment.

A priority has been the normalization of Myanmar’s relations with ASEAN. Many of the........

© The Diplomat