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From L-R: Myanmar Permanent secretary of foreign affairs Aung Kyaw Moe, Philippine ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting leader Theresa P. Lazalo, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, Vietnam's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Laos' Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, Brunei's Minister of Foreign Affairs Erywan Yusof, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, East Timor's Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas, and ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn pose for a family photo during the 57th Association of southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers Plenary Meeting session in Vientiane on October 8, 2024. Photo: AFP
Myanmar will send a representative to a regional summit this week for the first time in three years, a diplomatic source told AFP Tuesday, as the ruling junta struggles to quell a civil war.
The conflict will be high on the agenda as leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Laos from Wednesday, though more than three years of efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis have had no impact.
ASEAN barred Myanmar junta leaders from its summits in the wake of their February 2021 coup, and the generals have refused to send "non-political representatives" instead.
But Myanmar -- one of 10 ASEAN member states -- has sent a senior foreign ministry official as its representative to the three-day meeting in Vientiane, a southeast Asian diplomat involved in the meetings told AFP.
Weeks after seizing power, the junta agreed to a "five-point consensus" plan aimed at restoring peace, but ignored it and carried on a bloody crackdown on dissent and armed opposition to its rule.
"The significance is that in a sense they are accepting the five-point consensus," the diplomat told AFP.
"They may have thought that it's better to have their own voice heard rather than be on the outside."
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attended an emergency ASEAN summit on the crisis in April 2021, but the bloc has refused to invite him to regular gatherings since.
Myanmar will send a representative to a regional summit this week for the first time in three years, a diplomatic source told AFP Tuesday, as the ruling junta struggles to quell a civil war.
The conflict will be high on the agenda as leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Laos from Wednesday, though more than three years of efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis have had no impact.
ASEAN barred Myanmar junta leaders from its summits in the wake of their February 2021 coup, and the generals have refused to send "non-political representatives" instead.
But Myanmar -- one of 10 ASEAN member states -- has sent a senior foreign ministry official as its representative to the three-day meeting in Vientiane, a southeast Asian diplomat involved in the meetings told AFP.
Weeks after seizing power, the junta agreed to a "five-point consensus" plan aimed at restoring peace, but ignored it and carried on a bloody crackdown on dissent and armed opposition to its rule.
"The significance is that in a sense they are accepting the five-point consensus," the diplomat told AFP.
"They may have thought that it's better to have their own voice heard rather than be on the outside."
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attended an emergency ASEAN summit on the crisis in April 2021, but the bloc has refused to invite him to regular gatherings since.