Southeast Asian foreign ministers meet in Laos

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) — The foreign ministers of a Southeast Asian regional bloc met in Laos Monday, with junta-ruled Myanmar attending for the first time since a military coup in 2021.

Daw Malar Than Htaik, a senior officer in Myanmar's Foreign Ministry, represented the junta regime in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting.

Lao is the current chair of ASEAN, with the meeting being held in northern city of Luang Prabang under the annual theme, "Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience."

Myanmar's military, locally known as the Tatmadaw, had launched a coup in the country on Feb. 1, 2021, triggering measures from the ASEAN which bars military rulers from attending meetings.

At the event, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi welcomed what she called commitments to keep ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus the main reference for the bloc in "addressing Myanmar issue."

The plan, adopted shortly after the coup, calls for cessation of violence, initiation of dialogue, appointment of ASEAN envoys, providing humanitarian assistance, and a visit by an ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar.

"I also underline that the Rohingya issue should be addressed continuously in ASEAN," she said after attending the inaugural meeting, referring to the Myanmar military's brutal crackdown on the Muslim minority group in 2017 and their resulting mass exodus, mostly into neighboring Bangladesh.

Referring to Israeli bombardment of besieged Palestinian enclave Gaza, Marsudi said ASEAN is "united in upholding principles, international laws, and international humanitarian law."

"Principles matter for ASEAN," she said, adding that Indonesia regrets recent decisions by several countries, including the US, UK, and Canada, to suspend financial support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).