World

17 Oct 2021

Myanmar Junta Leader not Invited to ASEAN Summit

The Index Today

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN has decided to invite a non-political figure to the regional summit instead of junta Chief Min Aung Hlaing. The move came after the military leader led a coup against the elected official for government earlier this year.

An emergency meeting was held on Friday by all foreign ministers from the consensus bloc. The current chair of ASEAN, Brunei, said in a statement that Myanmar has failed to show progress on certain points such as restoration of peace to which it had agreed earlier.

Although the decision to exclude Min Aung Hlaing was difficult, it was necessary with regards to upholding ASEAN’s credibility. On the other hand, Myanmar officials said the decision was mostly a part of foreign intervention. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for the junta said in the news, “The foreign interventions can also be seen here. We learned that some envoys from some countries met with U.S foreign affairs and received pressure from EU.”

An official statement released by Myanmar junta stated, “Myanmar is extremely disappointed and strongly objected the outcomes of the Emergency Foreign Ministers meeting as the discussion and decisions on Myanmar’s representation issue was done without consensus and was against the objectives of the ASEAN charter and its principles.”

In recent times, ASEAN has been facing tremendous pressure from international bodies to reevaluate its stance and take a more effective approach to deal with Myanmar’s human rights abuse allegations. U.S officials have shown support for the summits decision to downgrade Myanmar.

©Photo: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters