Foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in the Indonesian capital on Friday for an annual get-together the agenda of which was overshadowed by the deteriorating situation in Myanmar.

The foreign minister of Indonesia, which chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, said the bloc was pushing for inclusive dialogue between all stakeholders in Myanmar, with ASEAN candidly discussing the issue on Friday.

Myanmar is one of the 10 ASEAN countries, but its foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, is not in attendance. The exclusion resulted from Myanmar's lack of cooperation on the five-step agreement between ASEAN and Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.  

In the agreement, Myanmar’s military leaders promised to allow a special ASEAN envoy to meet with jailed ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others to foster dialogue aimed at easing the crisis, set off by the military’s seizure of power two years ago.

Myanmar's lack of cooperation also led to its exclusion from the November 2022 ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, after an ASEAN representative was not allowed to meet the former leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. 

In her opening remarks Friday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the ministers were meeting in the midst of immense global challenges in which the Indo-Pacific region is not immune, including geopolitical, food, energy, financial and ecological crises, as well as major power rivalries that could spill over and potentially destabilize the region.

“Internally, we are facing the situation in Myanmar that tests our credibility,” Marsudi said, adding that “as a family, we dedicate a working lunch to have an in-depth and frank discussion on the implementation of the five-point consensus.”

Indonesia has vowed not to be "held hostage" by the Myanmar issue. But just days after the junta announced an extension of emergency rule, the regional bloc faces tough questions about how to handle the crisis as frustration grows with the junta's lack of progress on a so-called five-point peace plan they agreed to.

Marsudi said Indonesia is setting up an office of an ASEAN special envoy on Myanmar in Jakarta to spearhead how the bloc deals with the crisis and she will seek to engage with all stakeholders in Myanmar, noting that it is crucial to enable a national dialogue to address the crisis.

Since seizing power in a Feb. 1 coup two years ago, Myanmar's junta has plunged the country in chaos and violence, and failed to implement an ASEAN peace plan, which includes the cessation of conflict and the start of dialogue.

Image source: Reuters