The regime in Naypyidaw held the first meeting of its newly formed ASEAN Affairs Committee on Oct. 13, stating that it aims to restore Myanmar’s “role and rights” within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which banned all senior regime officials from high-level summits and meetings since April 2021 following the military coup.
The ASEAN Affairs Committee is chaired by regime Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe, who said the committee would seek to restore what it called its “original role and rights” within the 11-member regional bloc.
The committee was formed after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told regime leader Min Aung Hlaing on Oct. 8 that his government would do “whatever possible” to support Myanmar’s reintegration into ASEAN.
Tin Maung Swe met ASEAN foreign ministers at an “informal meeting” in Bangkok, Thailand on July 12, marking the first high-level engagement with Naypyidaw since the 2021 coup.
ASEAN has banned senior regime officials from high-level summits and meetings since April 2021 when Min Aung Hlaing agreed to the bloc’s peace plan, known as the Five Point Consensus, but did not implement it upon his return to Myanmar.
The ASEAN Five Point Consensus calls for the immediate end of violence in Myanmar and dialogue between all stakeholders to the conflict since the 2021 coup.
Since being inaugurated as Myanmar’s president by a pro-military parliament on April 10, Min Aung Hlaing has accused ASEAN of discriminating against the country, but has visited the capitals of five member states, including Malaysia on Oct. 7-8, Cambodia on Sept. 11-12, Vietnam on Sept. 4-6, Thailand on Aug. 6-7, and Laos on July 3-5.
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