21-6-2023 (JAKARTA) Indonesia has emphasized the importance of adhering to ASEAN’s five-point consensus on resolving the Myanmar crisis and engaging with all stakeholders. Ngurah Swajaya, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs’ special staff for regional diplomacy, stated that Indonesia has increased its engagement with various stakeholders in Myanmar since it took over as ASEAN chair for 2023. He highlighted Indonesia’s efforts in “non-megaphone diplomacy,” or talks with Myanmar behind closed doors, and said that in five months, Indonesia has engaged in over 75 engagements with Myanmar, including the State Administration Council, the National Unity Government, and others.
Swajaya’s comments come after Thailand’s caretaker government announced plans to hold talks with the foreign minister of Myanmar’s military junta. Reuters reported that the foreign ministers of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia did not attend, with some sending junior representation. Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos were the only countries to send their top diplomats.
Regarding Thailand’s initiative, Swajaya stated that engagement with just one group is not aligned with the five-point consensus. Indonesia was not making any “qualifications” about the meeting that Thailand was holding, but he stressed that all the leaders at the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo stressed that the five-point consensus is the main reference point for ASEAN to help Myanmar find a peaceful solution that is Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021. In April 2021, ASEAN drew up a five-point consensus peace plan with Myanmar, but there has been little progress in restoring peace or quelling the post-coup violence that has killed thousands. Asean’s position has been to ban Myanmar’s military junta from attending any of the bloc’s high-level meetings due to its failure to implement the peace plan and inviting non-political representatives to attend instead.
Critics of the Thai initiative say it risks legitimising Myanmar’s junta and is inappropriate because it is outside the official ASEAN peace initiative. However, Thailand justified hosting the talks, saying that dialogue was necessary to protect its border with the strife-torn country. Indonesia has vowed to do its best to improve the situation in Myanmar as ASEAN chair in 2023, and with the support of all ASEAN member states, it hopes to make progress towards resolving the crisis.
