Consultations in December
Asean summit: Thailand proposes special meeting on Myanmar

The Asean states have long been struggling to find solutions for the crisis-ridden country of Myanmar. photo
© Sakchai Lalit/AP/dpa
The crisis in Myanmar is once again at the top of the agenda at the Asean summit. Thailand calls for a joint approach – and invites consultations.
Thailand invited the members of the Southeast Asian association Asean to a special meeting on the situation in the crisis country Myanmar invited. The “informal consultations” will take place in December to find a way out of the spiral of chaos and violence in the former Burma, Channel News Asia reported. The military staged a coup in February 2021 and removed Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi from power. Since then, the junta has ruled with brutal force.
The heads of state and government of the ten Asean countries will meet until Friday for their annual summit in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. This year the country chairs the community of states. The crisis in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea are two of the key points on the agenda. Among those taking part in the talks are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
No progress on five-point plan
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called for a “common message” from Asean members to all parties in Myanmar to abandon military solutions and seek dialogue, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported. Asean Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn confirmed that participants had agreed on the proposed special meeting in Thailand.
However, it was still unclear who would take part for Myanmar. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was again not invited to the Asean summit and the military government sent a high-ranking official.
While rebel groups in Myanmar are advancing in various parts of the country and the population continues to suffer from military violence, attempts at mediation by neighboring countries have long since stalled. A five-point plan to resolve the crisis, which the Asean member states had already agreed on in 2021, has so far made no progress. This provides, among other things, for an immediate end to the violence and a dialogue between all parties to the conflict. To date, however, the junta has shown no will to fulfill the plan.