Myanmar junta sends senior official to Asean ministers' meeting

LUANG PRABANG, Laos - Myanmar's military junta on Jan 29 sent a senior official to take part in the Asean Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Laos, after having been barred from sending political appointees to high-level meetings of the regional bloc since the 2021 coup.

- Tan Hui Yee

While Laos, which is chairing Asean in 2024, called this a small but positive sign that its engagement with Myanmar may work, it warned that a resolution to the Myanmar crisis remained a distant prospect.

"We feel a little bit optimistic that the engagement may work, although we have to admit that the issues that are happening in Myanmar will not be resolved overnight," Laos Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith told reporters after the closed-door meeting concluded.

The Myanmar official in question was Ms Marlar Than Htaik, the permanent secretary of the foreign ministry under the control of the junta. Prior to her attendance, Myanmar's seat had been left empty at Asean leaders' and foreign ministers' meetings, as the junta considered the lower-level representation imposed by Asean a snub.

When approached by The Straits Times, Ms Marlar Than Htaik directed questions about the meeting to Laos. A member of her delegation indicated that Myanmar aimed to continue such participation in future Asean meetings.

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan described the discussions as "friendly, candid, constructive", and said they were directed towards keeping lines of engagement open with all sides to help bring about peace in Myanmar.